Abstract:
Epilepsy and other neurological disorders that are affected by the electrical potential difference between intracellular fluid and extra-cellular fluid and therefore the cell membrane potentials, and therefore the thresholds for the communication between brain cells can be controlled by re-circulating extra-cellular brain fluid after the fluid has been treated to alter its ion concentrations. A computer-controlled pump can precisely control the extraction and delivery of brain fluid after the ion concentration of the fluid is appropriately adjusted, e.g. guided by the Goldmann equation. Well-known techniques for modifying ion concentrations can be used to raise or lower ion concentrations as needed.

Description:
[0001]    This application is a continuation application of U.S. Ser. No. 09/561,550, filed Apr. 28, 2000. 
     
    
     
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    This invention relates to methods of treating medical disorders. In particular, this invention relates to a method of treating the cause of epilepsy, which is rooted in the basic concepts described by the Goldman equation. This equation describes the relation between the cell rest membrane potential and the concentration of ions inside and outside the cells in e.g nervous and muscle tissue. This implies that cell excitability can be modified and therefore the physiological inter-connectivity between cells. This interconnectivity is a major factor in the generation of e.g. epilepsy. The key concept of this invention is that if cell rest membrane electrical potentials are modified, epilepsy, and perhaps other neurological disorders might be effectively controlled.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    Epilepsy is a debilitating neurological disorder. Functional control of many or all body functions can be lost and further permanent brain damage results from each generalized epileptic attack.  
           [0004]    It is known that an epileptic seizure is manifested by an uncontrolled propagation of nerve impulses throughout the nerve cells in certain, areas of the brain. The nerve impulses of an epileptic seizure are characterized by many synchronized discharges, which may involve the whole brain. As a consequence the control of many body functions is lost. During epileptic seizures, the normal physiological interconnectivity between brain cells is greatly altered, resulting in a synchronized highly pathological brain activity.  
           [0005]    It is well known that the normal, electrical, rest membrane potential difference between intra-cellular fluid (fluid enclosed by the cell membrane) of brain cells and the extra-cellular brain fluid (fluid outside the membrane ) is about −0.07 volts (−70 millivolts or mV.) The intra-cellular brain fluid is at a more negative potential than the extracellular fluid potential. If this potential becomes more negative (cells are hyperpolarized), the likelihood of an epileptic seizure is decreased. In the field of biophysics, the well known Goldmann equation describes how the membrane potential depends on the concentrations of ions in the intra- or extra-cellular medium. Consequently this equation describes how changes in the extra-cellular ion concentrations will result in a hyper-polarization of brain cells which will result in suppression of epileptic seizures.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0006]    A method of treating epilepsy whereby seizures can be suppressed or prevented by using extra-cellular fluid (in the central nervous system, cerebral spinal fluid or “CSF”) that is extracted from the brain, e.g from one of the brain ventricles. The extracted brain fluid is treated to change the concentration of ions in the fluid in such a way that cells surrounded by this modified fluid will be hyper-or hypo-polarized which is quantitatively predicted by the Goldmann equation. The ion-adjusted fluid is re-injected into the brain into a specific brain structure, which may contain the brain cells that generate the epileptic seizure (hyper-polarization needed) or in a brain structure that modulates the epileptic region (hyper-polarization needed for suppressing structures and hypo-polarization needed for activating structures). The increased negative potential difference (hyper-polarization) between the intra and extra-cellular fluid in the epilepsy-generating brain structure increases the potential difference that the nerve cells must overcome to be involved in the generation of an epileptic seizure. In effect, the invention includes modulating the interconnectivity of nerve cells by modulating the rest membrane electrical potential. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0007]    [0007]FIG. 1 shows the steps of the method contemplated herein.  
         [0008]    [0008]FIG. 2 shows a simplified block diagram of an apparatus that could perform the method disclosed and claimed herein. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0009]    [0009]FIG. 1 shows a simplified schematic block diagram for a mechanical system for treating epilepsy and other neurological disorders by modifying ion concentration in brain fluid. In FIG. 1, fluid from a patient&#39;s brain  10  (the fluid is not shown) is extracted from the brain (preferably from 1 of the brain ventricles)  10 , by a pump  14 . Extra-cellular fluid can be extracted by exerting a relatively negative pressure on a small-diameter flexible conduit (i.e. a catheter or capillary tube  12 ) one end of which is coupled to the pump and which provides the negative pressure. The other end of the flexible conduit is inserted into the brain ventricle. Extra-cellular brain fluid is drawn through an appropriately-sized capillary tube or catheter  12  to the pump  14 , which in the preferred embodiment was a positive displacement computer-controlled pump  14 .  
         [0010]    In the preferred embodiment, the pump  14  (which may be computer controlled) reads and executes stored program instructions that cause the pump to pump the extracted fluid according to the program and its parameters. In many applications, ion-adjusted fluid will be pumped in an “open loop” fashion, i.e. according to some predetermined schedule in the pump&#39;s stored program. Open-loop delivery methods can be based upon either the volume of modified extra-cellular brain fluid to be delivered per unit time or some other parameter.  
         [0011]    The pump  14  forces extracted extra-cellular brain fluid through an ion concentration adjustment mechanism  16 . Ion concentrations in the extracted brain fluid are modified in the ion concentration adjustment mechanism  16 . The ion concentration of the fluid can be adjusted by methodologies well known in the art including, but not limited to, appropriate ion exchange mechanisms; filtration, or chemical treatment. The ion concentration adjustment mechanism  16  changes the ion concentration in brain fluid such that when the fluid is returned to the brain, the brain fluid ion concentration, at least in localized regions, is modified. Output from the ion concentration adjustment mechanism  16  is returned to the brain  10  through an appropriately sized capillary tube or catheter  18 .  
         [0012]    Procedural steps of the method  200  of the invention are illustrated in FIG. 2. CSF or extra-cellular brain fluid is extracted  210  and the ion-concentration of the fluid is adjusted  220  using an appropriate methodology. Some techniques for modifying ion concentration would include filtering or various chemical treatment processes. After the ion concentration is adjusted, the modified ion-content fluid is re-injected into the patient&#39;s brain  230 .  
         [0013]    At some point in the process, the flow rate of brain fluid from and/or into the patient&#39;s brain is measured  240 . While this step is shown in FIG. 2 as being after re-injection of the brain fluid  230 , alternate methodologies would certainly include deleting this step in its entirety and simply letting the pump run “open loop” doing whatever the program instructions dictate. Still other embodiments would include calculating or measuring the extracted fluid  210  volume as well as the delivered fluid volume. Inasmuch as brain fluid is incompressible, both the extracted and re-injected or delivered fluid volumes should be equivalent, except for any fluid lost during the ion-concentration adjustment.  
         [0014]    Still other embodiments might measure the ion concentration in the brain fluid and, depending upon the measured ion concentration, adjust the fluid delivery rate or the ionconcentration adjustment, or both. In an optimum system, a closed-loop feedback system would include a system that measures ion concentration (or other electrical characteristic) and uses this information to control fluid extraction, delivery or ion content so as to achieve the optimum electrical potential difference between the inside and outside of brain cells, imbalances of which might cause epilepsy or other neurological disorders.  
         [0015]    Various embodiments of the invention include localized delivery of ion-modulated brain fluid as well as dispersed delivery mechanism, such as a leaky catheter. By replacing the brain fluid at a modified ion concentration, it is possible to change the electrical potential difference between intra-cellular and extra-cellular brain fluid.  
         [0016]    In the preferred embodiment, changing the electrical potential difference across the nerve cell membrane in the epilepsy generating brain structure can significantly affect the occurrence of epileptic seizures. Once a diagnosis of epilepsy is first made or the disease is established, changing the ion concentration in the extra-cellular fluid to increase the potential difference from −70 millivolts to −80 or more millivolts will locally hyperpolarize the brain cells and therefore, can substantially inhibit seizures.  
         [0017]    In one of the alternate embodiments, an electrical probe  20  inserted into a localized region of the brain  10  might be read by the computer that controls the pump  14  so as to provide closed-loop feedback so as to even more closely control ion concentrations and therefore more closely control epileptic seizures. A probe inserted into the brain fluid in the brain might measure the ion concentration by the conductivity or resistance of the fluid. In such an embodiment, it is preferable to measure ion concentration after the ion-adjusted fluid has been returned to the patient&#39;s brain. The modified resulting membrane potential can be calculated using the well-known Goldman equation. In another alternate embodiment, ion concentrations of extra-cellular fluid might be adjusted according to measured electrical activity of nerve cells in specific brain structures involved in the generation of the epileptic seizures. In such an embodiment, the electrical activity of brain cells, can be continuously adjusted by injecting more or less modified brain fluid in such a way to avoid seizures. Such a closed-loop system could be used to carefully control, in real time, the rate at which ion adjusted fluid is delivered to the brain or to change the ion concentration changes effected by the ion concentration adjustment mechanism  16 . A control signal  22  from the computer-controlled pump  14  might be used to change the ion concentration in fluid that is output to the brain  10 . In yet another embodiment, it might be possible to alter electrical potential differences across cell membranes simply by adding or administering a predetermined liquid or other substance to brain fluid so as to change the electrical potential across brain cells.  
         [0018]    Those skilled in the art will recognize that changing the ion concentration of extracellular brain fluid could have other beneficial effects in the treatment of other neurological disorders by adjusting the degree of communication between brain cells. This degree of communication depends on the level of the membrane potential. Hyper-polarized or inhibited cells increase the threshold for cell communication, while hypo-polarized or excited cells decrease the threshold for cell communication. In instances where neurological disorders can be controlled by modulating the communication between brain cells the invention would find the applicability in treating these other disorders.