Researchers Report Results from Study of Brain Electrical Activity Using Cyberkinetics' NeuroPort™ System at the American Epilepsy Society Meeting

Up to three percent of people in the United States will develop epilepsy in their lifetime. Approximately 50,000 people are diagnosed each year with epilepsy, nearly one third of whom are medically intractable, that is, unable to control seizure activity with drug treatment. Of people with intractable epilepsy, nearly one third would qualify as candidates for epilepsy surgery, though as few as 1,000 annually are actually referred for this procedure. According to the Epilepsy Foundation, annual direct and indirect medical costs to treat epilepsy in the United States alone exceed $12 billion.

"From a small sample area of the brain, this new monitoring system provides us with high quality information about the genesis and evolution of seizure activity," added Catherine Schevon, M.D., Ph.D., co-lead investigator and assistant professor of clinical neurology in the Columbia Comprehensive Epilepsy Center at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons and a member of the hospital staff at the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. "These results expand our understanding of brain seizure activity and we hope it will someday enable us to develop more effective ways to detect and treat seizure disorders."

Cyberkinetics' NeuroPort[TM] System is a medical device indicated for the temporary (less than 30 days) recording and monitoring of brain electrical activity. It consists of a 4 x 4 mm, 100-microelectrode array and a signal processor. The array is implanted on the surface of the brain where the electrodes sense electrical activity from individual and groups of neurons. Cleared to market in the United States, the NeuroPort System is designed to provide neurologists and neurosurgeons with detailed, cellular-level information regarding the electrical activity of the brain, which might lead to more accurate diagnoses and enhanced patient outcomes.

"The medical, productivity and personal costs associated with the treatment of epilepsy represent a significant burden to the healthcare system and to society," added Timothy R. Surgenor, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cyberkinetics. "We believe that our NeuroPort[TM] technology could one day enable physicians to better locate seizure activity and treat epilepsy to help more patients adequately control this condition."

In March 2006, Cyberkinetics and Columbia University Medical Center signed a collaborative agreement to evaluate the utility of brain electrical activity recordings obtained using Cyberkinetics' NeuroPort[TM] System. Columbia intends to use the NeuroPort[TM] System to improve the understanding of certain abnormal human brain processes, which may include those commonly associated with epileptic seizures, Parkinson's disease and other movement disorders, as well as many other neurological diseases. The investigative team led by Dr. Emerson includes neurosurgeons, neurologists and neurophysiologists who are co-investigators with the research collaboration. To date, seven patients have received the NeuroPort[TM] System in the study.