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Updated: Oct 17, 2025
Controlling Parkinson's Disease With Adaptive Deep Brain Stimulation
Published on: July 16, 2014
Rechargeable Pacemaker Technology in Deep Brain Stimulation: A Step Forward, But Not for Everyone
Joachim Runge1, Johanna M Nagel1, Christoph Schrader2
1Department of Neurosurgery Hannover Medical School Hannover Germany.
Background:
Rechargeable implantable pulse generator (IPG) technology has several advantages over non-rechargeable systems and is routinely used now in deep brain stimulation (DBS). Little is known about the occasional need and the circumstances for switching back to non-rechargeable technology.
Cases:
Out of a cohort of 640 patients, 102 patients received a rechargeable IPG at first implantation or at the time of replacement surgery. Out of these, 3 patients underwent preemptive replacement with non-rechargeable devices for the following reasons: dissatisfaction with handling and recharge frequency (pallidal DBS in advanced Parkinson's disease/dystonia), severe DBS OFF status subsequent to missed recharging (subthalamic DBS in Parkinson's disease) and twiddler's syndrome (nucleus accumbens DBS in alcohol dependency).
Conclusions:
Although rechargeable IPG technology has been received well and is used widely, there are unexpected scenarios that require replacement surgery with non-rechargeable IPGs.
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