Grant: Project Grant

Parkinson's disease is a progressive brain disorder that can cause severe movement problems. For patients whose symptoms cannot be managed with medication, one of the most effective treatments is Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS). In DBS surgery, thin electrodes are implanted deep into the brain to send electrical signals that help control symptoms. To work properly, these electrodes must be placed with extreme precision-just a few millimetres off target can reduce benefits or cause unwanted side effects. Today's guidance methods, such as recording electrical activity from the brain or using X-rays during surgery, can be time-consuming, expensive, and not accurate enough to ensure the very best placement. Our team has developed a new approach that uses light instead of electrical or X-ray signals to guide the surgeon. Light can interact with brain tissue in unique ways, allowing us to "see" differences between white matter, grey matter, blood vessels, and other structures, even when they look identical to the naked eye. Building on earlier work that showed this is possible from inside a standard DBS electrode, we will now integrate an advanced technique called wavelength-swept spontaneous Raman spectroscopy (SSRS). SSRS can detect tiny differences in the chemical makeup of tissues, providing results in as little as one second and with up to 99% accuracy. It is also far more efficient than older optical methods, collecting 100 times more light. Our project will miniaturise the SSRS probe so it fits inside the surgical electrode, test its accuracy in brain tissue samples and live models, and then evaluate it during human surgeries. The result will be a portable, affordable, and fibre-based optical guidance tool that gives neurosurgeons real-time, highly accurate information without adding any risk or extra steps to the surgery. This will make DBS safer, more precise, and more effective for people with Parkinson's disease and potentially other brain disorders.