Surgical Services

Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) is an FDA approved option for patients with neurological impairments and Riverview Medical Center is one of just four hospitals in the state of New Jersey, and the only one in Monmouth and Ocean counties to offer it. DBS is effective in improving symptoms and quality of life by nearly 60% for patients suffering from Essential Central Tremors and Parkinson’s Disease.

How DBS Works

Functioning like a “pacemaker” for the brain, electrodes are used to send out electrical impulses to areas of the brain causing the disorders. Stimulation blocks any abnormal activities in the brain and relieves patients of tremors, rigidity, slowness of movement, stiffness, and may help with other problems associated with the condition.

Unilateral (for essential tremors) or bilateral (for Parkinson’s disease) electrodes are placed in the brain and connected to a pacemaker battery through wires under the skin near the collarbone. The battery and a computer chip are programmed to conduct the currents that control the symptoms. The amounts of currents released are customized non-invasively for each individual patient to provide them with the best therapeutic result and minimize side effects.

Although DBS is not a cure, in many cases improvement of symptoms is noticeable just after the electrodes are installed, with outcomes and total effects realized in about six months with long-lasting effects. Additionally unlike lesion procedures DBS is reversible and adjustable.

Frameless Advantage

Traditional approaches to DBS have been effective for several decades but typically involve securing patients’ heads to the surgical table using large, metal halo devices, causing complete immobilization of the patients’ head and neck and obscuring their lines of vision.

At Riverview we provide treatment using a frameless approach with intraoperative O-arm technology, which places the electrodes without using the traditional anchored stereotactic frame. This approach greatly improves patients’ comfort during the procedure and additionally allows the surgeon to access target areas more efficiently, and prior to the placement of electrodes, minimizing the amount of time required in the Operating Room.

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