Kelly Ryberg is the Associate Director for the DBS research core. The MnDRIVE Neuromodulation Core supports invasive neuromodulation research at the University of Minnesota. If you're asking yourself, "What the heck is invasive neuromodulation?!" It's any treatment that changes nervous system activity through surgery or a procedure that involves breaking the skin. A common example is Deep Brain Stimulation, but invasive neuromodulation could also be spinal cord stimulation for pain, or other techniques.
DBS still feels like something from the future, even though the basic concepts of the technology are pretty old at this point. There are new tweaks to the devices and stimulation all the time, so that keeps things interesting. Minnesota is known as "device alley", so development of neuromodulation devices is important to the local economy.
Most people don't know how many indications DBS is currently used to treat: Parkinson's, essential tremor, dystonia, OCD, depression, epilepsy. It will be interesting to see what's next.
