The influence of rate of stimulation and pulse duration on efficacy of deep brain stimulation for Essential Tremor

Abstract

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is used to alleviate tremor in patients diagnosed with Essential Tremor who do not respond to conventional treatments. To achieve optimal tremor suppression, a large stimulus parameter space needs to be explored. In practice, a default pulse duration and stimulation rate (generally 60 us and 130 Hz) are often chosen and current or voltage varied to determine a clinically effective setting. This study explored the effect of rate of stimulation in 5 patients with bilateral DBS stimulation to the posterior sub-thalamic area (PSA). Additionally, the effects of varying charge per pulse by varying pulse duration alone or by varying current/voltage alone were compared. ..