BRAIN IMPLANTS HELP RESTORE MOVEMENT

Fred Foy’s hands used SEATTLE — to shake and tremble uncontrollably from a nerve disorder known as essential tremor, making it hard for him to do the simplest tasks

from signing his name to eating — with utensils.

So in November 2016, the Maple Valley resident went through experimental surgery at the University of Washington Medical Center to fix the tremors with a device implanted in his brain.

“It’s working great,” said Foy, 82. “It’s a miracle. I can eat now — I can do things with my right hand that I couldn’t do before.”

The fix was pioneered by the University of Washington’s Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering (CSNE), which conducts cutting-edge research that aims to create an interface between the brain and computers.

The center’s moon shot: To allow people who have been paralyzed by injury or stroke to move their limbs again, said Scott Ransom, director of industry relations and innovation for CSNE.

The center was established in 2011 with a 10-year, $40 million federal grant from the National Science Foundation. Two other branches of the program operate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and San Diego State University. In all, 50 faculty in the three institutions are part of the program, along with 31 industry partners.

Among its faculty members: a neuroethicist who helps scientists work through the ethical implications of putting computer chips in the body and brain to govern movement. “We’re leading the world in setting these standards,” Ransom said.

The center hopes to further its experiments in human research, and the essential-tremor research is one of the early steps in that effort.

Essential tremor is a nerve disorder characterized by involuntary, rhythmic shaking, although

sufferers do not shake when resting or sleeping. Its cause is not known. One way to treat it is with deep brain stimulation, using an implanted device that provides electrical stimulation that quiets the symptoms.

The center’s experimental device, manufactured by the company Medtronic, is difffffffffffferent fromother such devices on themarket. It helps control the tremors by turning on the stimulation only when a patient moves his or her arms. Research suggests that intermittent stimulation may do a better job of treating symptoms, said UW neurosurgeon Andrew Ko.

And because the device isn’t running constantly, its battery is expected to last longer — an important consideration, since changing the battery in an implanted device requires surgery.

So far, just four patients have had the experimental device implanted, as part of a clinical trial that runs through the end of 2018. The researchers are looking for ways to expand the trial.

The device works thisway: Neurosurgeons implant sensors in the brain, where they gather data from the motor cortex — the part of the brain necessary for voluntary movement— and detect when a patient is moving his or her arm.

In order to make this work, the CSNE team had to develop machine learning algorithms that “decode” those neural signals coming fromthe brain and correlate them with essential tremor symptoms.

“When the system detects arm movement, it turns on stimulation that is directed at a difffffffffffferent part of the brain,” said Ko, who did Foy’s surgery. “That stimulation treats the patient’s tremor. Insome ways, it is like a prosthetic device for brain pathways.”

Researchers are also exploring whether patients could consciously adjust the device. A side effffffffffffect of deep brain stimulation is that it makes it difficult to speak clearly. The researchers hope patients could one day con- trol the device’s on-and-offff switch just by thinking about it, rather than turning the device on and offff manually.

Foy said he went through physical therapy to make sure he was a good candidate for the surgery, and while he was in the sessions, he discovered how many thing she could no longer do. The realization brought him to tears.

“I didn’t realize how bad a shape I was in,” he said.

Now, he goes to UW every month to participate in research on howthe device is working for him. He had the surgery to fifix the tremors in his right hand; his left hand still trembles, and he also walks with a cane.

“I’m happy to help — anything I can do to advance the science,” he said.

GREG GILBERT / SEATTLE TIMES Fred Foy, 82, of Maple Valley, Wash., holds out his nowsteady right hand earlier this month. He has had a brain implant to control his tremors.

GREG GILBERT / SEATTLE TIMES Fred Foy demonstrates his steady handwriting. His right hand once shook so badly he couldn’t hold a cup of coffffee. He’s one of four people undergoing a clinical trial for brain implants.