Section: New Results

Biomechanical simulation of electrode migration for deep brain stimulation

Deep Brain Stimulation is a modern surgical technique for treating patients who suffer from affective or motion disorders such as Parkinson’s disease. The efficiency of the procedure relies heavily on the accuracy of the placement of a micro-electrode which sends electrical pulses to a specific part of the brain that controls motion and affective symptoms. However, targeting this small anatomical structure is rendered difficult due to a series of brain shifts that take place during and after the procedure. We introduce a biomechanical simulation of the intra and postoperative stages of the procedure in order to determine lead deformation and electrode migration due to brain shift. To achieve this goal, we propose a global approach, which accounts for brain deformation but also for the numerous interactions that take place during the procedure (contacts between the brain and the inner part of the skull and falx cerebri, effect of the cerebrospinal fluid, and biomechanical interactions between the brain and the electrodes and cannula used during the procedure). Preliminary results show a good correlation between our simulations and various results reported in the literature. This work was presented at MICCAI 2011 [16] .

Figure 6. Screenshot showing the simulated deflection of the right electrode immediately after operation (left) and several weeks after the operation (right).