St. Luke's Health Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center Begins Groundbreaking New Treatment for Epilepsy

St. Luke's Health–Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center announced today that it has begun treating patients with the groundbreaking new NeuroPace® RNS® System, a treatment for adults with partial onset seizures that have not been controlled with two or more antiepileptic drugs.

The RNS System is an implantable, therapeutic device that delivers responsive neurostimulation, which is an advanced technology designed to detect abnormal electrical activity in the brain. It delivers small levels of electrical stimulation to normalize brain activity before an individual experiences seizures. 

“This is an incredibly important technological development  that we will be using to treat patients with epilepsy for years to come,” said Ian Goldsmith, Associate Professor of Neurology at Baylor College of Medicine and a member of the Baylor Comprehensive Epilepsy Center. “We are very excited to be able to offer the RNS System to our patients who have had a difficult time controlling their seizures. We believe this device will have a tremendous impact on helping them lead a more stable life.”  

The RNS System is intended for use as a therapy to reduce the frequency of partial onset seizures in individuals 18 years of age or older, who have undergone diagnostic testing and currently have frequent and disabling seizures.

“Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center should be commended for its resolve to be among the first to make this therapeutic option available to partial onset epilepsy patients suffering from the devastating consequences of uncontrolled seizures,” said Frank Fischer, CEO, NeuroPace.

The RNS System has demonstrated safety and effectiveness in patients who average three or more disabling seizures per month over the three most recent months (with no month with fewer than two seizures), and has not been evaluated in patients with less frequent seizures. It is estimated that approximately 400,000 people in the U.S. meet these criteria and may benefit from treatment with the RNS System.