This successful procedure is likely to revolutionise the treatment of brain ailments linked to Parkinson’s disease and movement disorders

Doctors at the Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) Hospitals performed World’s first ‘auto guide’ implantation for Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) using artificial intelligence. This completed procedure is likely to revolutionise the treatment of brain ailments linked to Parkinson’s disease and movement disorders.

The team of neurosurgeons led by Dr. Manas Panigrahi, HOD – Neuro Surgery at the KIMS Hospitals (Secunderabad) have developed a program to provide the latest versions of treatment with Tomorrow’s Technology, today. 32-year-old Abhinay Kumar from Hyderabad, diagnosed with a rare disorder with symptoms of tightness of hands and legs and having difficulty in walking, like in Parkinson’s disease, was successfully treated using advanced treatment protocols on March 3rd 2022.

Commenting on the patient and the procedure, Dr Manas Panigrahi, Head of Department and Sr. Consultant Neurosurgeon, KIMS Hospitals said, “More than six years back (then 26 yrs old) Abhinay Kumar felt tremors in right hand, which increased with age and had great difficulty even in holding even a teacup and with its progression, was not even able to walk forcing him to give up his job. This condition required a surgical intervention to rectify the anomaly in the brain and had to be done with absolute precision. Accuracy is key while performing deep brain stimulation, and the highly skilled team of neurosurgeons and neurologists who specialize in Parkinson’s disease and movement disorders, aided by an extremely accurate robotic tool, were able to reach the exact location inside the brain and treat the problem.”

In successfully performing this procedure, Dr Manas Panigrahi was ably supported by Dr Dhanunjay, Consultant Neurosurgeon, and Dr Praveen Kumar Yada, Consultant Neurologist, along with the highly skilled nursing staff at the hospital.

The Parkinson’s Centre at the KIMS Hospitals is one of the very few places in Asia where such complex procedures could have been possible. The Artificial Intelligence-integrated robotic system available at the KIMS Hospitals helps in various brain surgeries including epilepsy surgery, brain tumour biopsy, deep brain stimulation for Parkinson’s disease, movement disorders and some psychiatric disorders.

The Stealth Auto guide robot helps calculate the exact position and trajectory needed to reach the targeted area of the brain. The neurosurgeon places a very thin wire with small electrodes on its tip that will deliver electrical stimulation to a small volume of tissue. A standard accuracy registration for deep brain stimulation usually falls between 0.8 and 1.2 millimetres. By using the Stealth Auto guide robot, on recent surgery the Parkinson’s group at KIMS Hospitals has registered an accuracy within 0.2, which is the first best in the nation according to Auto guide data. That’s about the fraction thickness of a hair.

If the surgery is done manually, the neurosurgeon himself needs to calculate the coordinates, he has to fix the leads with his own hands into the brain. With Artificial intelligence Auto Guide robot pics the coordinates based on the feed from the surgeons. It performs procedure according to the given instructions, with utmost precision and accuracy.

Post completion of the procedure, Mr. Abhinay Kumar is now completely fine and is now able to do everything he ever wanted to do. Mr. Abhinay Kumar said, “I had experienced tremors in 2016. I was doing a private job which had to be left because of my health condition. Initially, I went to different doctors and used Allopathic, Homeo and Ayurvedic medicines. But, none of them gave relief. When I searched in Google, I came to know about Dr Manas Panigrahi of KIMS Hospitals. He said it is Parkinson’s disease. After the DBS, tremors have stopped completely. Doctors treated me with great care. Looking forward to join my job soon.”