05-03-2025
UK's first patient to trial Parkinson's implant says it is life-changing
The first patient in the UK to have an implant placed in his brain which "counteract symptoms of Parkinson's" says he no longer feels like he has the Morgan, 51, was diagnosed with Parkinson's at 33 years old after noticing changes in his handwriting and his movements slowing undergoing Adaptive Deep Brain Simulation (ADBS), which saw a wire inserted between his chest and head, he said the benefits were immediate. Mr Morgan, who is from Bristol and lives in Cardiff, said the treatment has been "life-changing".
The technology was switched on in January as part of a trial at Southmead implant has technology inside which can work out when Mr Morgan's symptoms are about to show and suppress told BBC Radio Bristol it is "like not having Parkinson's" any more.
'I can enjoy my hobbies again'
"They switch it on and they have you walk up and down the corridor, and you can feel the difference. You feel balanced," he device sends a small electrical signal to the tip of the wires into the brain, and that electricity changes the Morgan said it is "constantly reading the brainwaves" and "it's like having a mini computer in my body".He said: "My right arm wouldn't swing before but it does now. It's been life-changing. "One of my hobbies is fly-fishing and standing in rivers, silly things like that. I can do that now."
Mihaela Boca, a consultant neurologist at Southmead Hospital, said the device is "a bit like having a pacemaker in the brain rather than the heart"."By having this electricity delivered into the brain, you're essentially getting your [condition] treated without having medication," she said."We are now in the future, as it were."More than 150,000 people are thought to be living with the disease which impacts mobility, speech, focus, sleep and number is expected to increase due to population growth and treatment is expected to be rolled out this year.
