Adaptively controlling deep brain stimulation in essential tremor patient via surface electromyography

We present patient test outcomes to show that on-off control of deep brain stimulation sequences in essential tremor patients is achievable in a self-adaptive manner via non-invasive surface-electromyography, to prevent tremors in these patients.

In our study, an essential tremor patient, who underwent bilateral deep brain stimulation implantation 8 years earlier, was subjected to deep brain stimulation at 130 pulses/second, with a 90-microsecond pulse-width, in packets of durations from 20 to 73 seconds and was monitored with surface-electromyography.

At the end of these stimulation packets, tremor-free intervals followed, averaging over 20 seconds, before tremor reappeared. Wavelet analysis of the eletromyographic signals allowed predicting onset of tremors at the end of the tremor-free intervals and was successful in all test cycles. Furthermore, once stimulation was restarted, the tremors disappeared within 0.5 seconds on average. When restarting stimulation approximately 2 seconds ahead of the end of tremor-free post-simulation intervals as predicted by visual inspection of unprocessed electromyograms, no tremors occurred during three successive cycles of stimulation-on and stimulation-off. Maximal ratio of tremor-free duration to stimulation duration was computed, to determine a best DBS (deep brain stimulation) duration range (20-35 seconds).

We show existence of a tremor-free interval averaging over 20 seconds that follows applying stimulation packets of 20-35 seconds and that surface electomyogram allows predicting onset of tremor to facilitate activation of a next stimulation packet before tremor reappears. This establishes the feasibility of electromyographic-based predictive on-off control of deep brain stimulation in certain essential tremor patients. Best tremor-free duration to stimulation duration ratio may differ over the progression of the disorder and from patient to patient.