Magnetic stimulation devices may also help in treating strokes, neurodegenerative conditions
Panaji: Research by a US-based Goan doctor Santosh Helekar in the development and refinement of portable, wearable, non-invasive magnetic stimulation devices could help in combating cancers, treating strokes and neurodegenerative conditions, among others, but the devices are awaiting FDA approval.
Dr Helekar is the Scientific Director of Translational Biomagnetics and Neurometry Programme at Houston Methodist Research Institute in Houston, Texas, USA.
As part of his research, he has invented Transcranial Rotating Permanent Magnet Stimulator (TRPMS), which can be used in the treatment of strokes, depression and neurodegenerative conditions like dementia, Alzheimer’s, among others.
“Once life of a patient, who has suffered a stroke, is saved and if the person is paralysed, it takes some time for some of the paralysis to reduce and the motor function to return, may it be to the limb or speech etc. But in some cases, it may not recover entirely or in some cases it may not recover at all, even with physiotherapy and rehabilitation therapy. That happens because the normal connections that would drive muscles of the body to produce those functions are lost.”
“But there are still surrounding normal brain cells and they can take over functions of the part that is lost. This can be done by stimulating those parts, for which this device can be used. So, if a patient is paralysed even for 10 years, by stimulating part of the brain that is intact, we can recover some of the functions. TRPMS can be used in treatment for chronic strokes. It is not an immediate treatment for strokes,” said Dr Helekar.
Explaining further, he said the Oncomagnetic Device (OMD) is a modified version of the TRPMS where there are bigger magnets, bigger motors and different patterns of stimulation.
“These magnets and motors are worn on a helmet. We have tested it in patients with a cancer called glioblastoma. It is seen that this device can kill the cancer cells while sparing normal cells of the brain. It can also be used to kill other cancer cells like that of lung cancer, breast cancer and pancreatic cancer,” he said.
Explaining Sentiometer, Dr Helekar said that it measures the level of consciousness or any change in consciousness.
“The immediate use of Sentiometer is in the intensive care unit where people who are unresponsive after brain injury are admitted.”
“They are in different levels of unconsciousness or in some cases even a condition called delirium where they hallucinate all the time. This is a serious condition, which predicts mortality in patients. There is currently no device that can measure how unconscious a person is,” he said.
Dr Helekar pointed out that as these devices have been newly developed, they have not been approved by FDA.
“For FDA approval you need properly controlled clinical trials, which take several years, and it also needs huge funding. So it can only be done by a company that licences technology. The first thing that could be approved is the OMD, as, at the moment a trial is being conducted in Germany. Then there would be another bigger trial in the US and that could lead to the FDA approval, assuming the trial is successful. It should take 2-3 years,” he said.
Responding to when these devices can be used in the treatment, he said, “First you save the life of the patient, let him recover for a month and then the treatment can start so that the patient does not lose more functions.”
Dr Helekar said treatment through these devices does not have any side effect as far as he knows. “They are non-invasive. There are no injections involved, there is no surgery involved, there is no implantation of the device in brain or body. As a result, there are no side effects at the moment. On a very long term basis, after 10 years of treatment we may discover some things. But at least over a period of two years of stimulating the brain, there is no clear side effect,” he said.
