Implantable Medical Device for Depression: Be Clear

Abstract

Depression is often said to result from a chemical imbalance, but that speech figure does not capture how complicated this disease is. Researchers have learned much about the biology of depression, identifying genes that make individuals more vulnerable to low moods and influence how they respond to drug therapy [1]. Even though there are several ways to treat it, electroconvulsive therapy (Brain Stimulation) remains one of the most effective treatments. Through neuromodulation, the brain is stimulated to produce a natural biological response; with this, it is sought to stimulate the brain's area closely associated with depression. Therefore, this paper shows advances in designing an implantable medical device platform using the biocompatible shape memory material nitinol, applying endovascular neurosurgery to treat depression. This method involves mild pulses at programmed time intervals applied to the nucleus accumbens to achieve an antidepressant effect via a cardiac delivery pacemaker with an internal diameter of less than 1.3 mm through the jugular vein by harvesting the natural energy of a heartbeat without an external battery.