Unprecedented insights inside and outside the clinic

The Percept™ PC and Percept™ RC neurostimulators feature BrainSense™ technology, designed to capture brain signals (local field potentials, or LFPs) using the implanted deep brain stimulation (DBS) lead. These signals can be recorded simultaneously while delivering therapeutic stimulation, at the time symptoms occurred.

You can correlate these brain signals with stimulation and events capturing medication, symptoms, or side effects to deliver personalized, data-driven treatment and adjust as patient needs evolve.

Medtronic’s DBS therapy is approved for 5 indications: Parkinson’s disease, essential tremor, dystonia obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and epilepsy. Indications vary by product, refer to product labeling for details. Humanitarian Device: The effectiveness of these devices for the treatment of dystonia and obsessive-compulsive disorder has not been demonstrated.

How it works

BrainSense™ technology captures brain signals (local field potentials or LFPs) using the implanted DBS lead. These signals can be recorded simultaneously while delivering therapeutic stimulation, inside and outside the clinic. Clinicians can also correlate these brain signals with stimulation and patient-captured events such as medication, symptoms, or side effects.

Cutting-edge technology to inform your DBS therapy decisions

The Percept™ family with BrainSense™ technology is the most complete DBS system with sensing and directionality so you can access data-driven insights to tailor therapy with confidence.

BrainSense™ technology uses brain signals to provide clinicians with objective data to understand the impact of treatment decisions such as medication or stimulation changes.


See how BrainSense™ technology captures brain signals from an animated example representing a person with Parkinson‘s at the exact time you experienced symptoms (even when symptoms occur outside of an office visit).

The BrainSense™ suite of tools offers decision-making support to select and optimize programming configurations and maximize therapeutic results over time.

The tablet images below are associated with Parkinson‘s disease.

Select programming configurations.

BrainSense™ tool: Survey

  • Provides decision-making support to select therapeutic contact(s) or directionally shift stimulation during a monopolar review or follow-up programming sessions
A graphic showing the DBS BrainSense technology select programming.

Optimize programming configurations.

BrainSense™ tool: Streaming

  • Guides stimulation for LFP power reduction and can assist in finding stimulation-related therapeutic windows.
  • Stimulation parameters can be adjusted to address potentially suboptimal therapy configurations using objective patient neurophysiologic data.

BrainSense™ tool: Thresholds

  • Clinician-defined LFP thresholds may allow for rapid assessment of the time spent with or without symptoms outside of clinic.
A graphic showing DBS BrainSense technology optimizing programming.

Maximize therapeutic results over time.

BrainSense™ tool: Timeline

  • Objective and personalized information from outside the clinic.
  • Observe effects of medications and stimulation changes on LFP power.

BrainSense™ tool: Events

  • A patient’s day-to-day in digital form.
  • Assess and understand the frequency and magnitude of the signal of interest of events over time.
A graphic showing DBS BrainSense™ technology timeline.

Read about research on brain sensing and BrainSense™ technology in this scientific compendium.

Download scientific compendium (open in new window)

SenSight™ directional DBS lead system

The first-of-its-kind, SenSight™ directional DBS lead system combines the benefits of directionality with the power of sensing. Built with proprietary materials, components, and processes, the SenSight™ directional lead and SenSight™ extension work seamlessly with the Percept™ neurostimulators to enhance detection of local field potentials (LFPs), which are 1 million times smaller than DBS stimulation pulses.1

Learn about SenSight™
See the Sensight Directional lead.

Resources

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† The sensing feature of the Percept™ PC and Percept™ RC system is intended for use in patients receiving DBS where chronically recorded bioelectric data may provide useful, objective information regarding patient clinical status. The majority of patients with Parkinson’s disease have an identifiable signal. Signal may not be present or measurable in patients treated for essential tremor, dystonia, epilepsy or obsessive-compulsive disorder. Humanitarian Device: The effectiveness of these devices for the treatment of dystonia and obsessive-compulsive disorder has not been demonstrated.

  1. Neumann WJ, Staub F, Horn A, et al. Deep brain recordings using an implanted pulse generator in Parkinson’s disease. Neuromodulation. 2016;19(1):20–24.