Therapeutic Apparatus for Parkinson's Disease

Therapeutic apparatus to treat Parkinson's disease has been developed in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. Treating the disease with transcranial magnetic stimulation represents a worldwide breakthrough, concluded an expert panel with the Heilongjiang Provincial Department of Science and Technology. "This is the first time that transcranial magnetic stimulation has been used to treat Parkinson's disease," said Sun Zuodong, chairman of Aobo Medicine Apparatus Co., Ltd. (AMA), the developer based in the provincial capital Harbin. Transcranial magnetic stimulation is a noninvasive method that causes depolarization in the brains' neurons so as to restore the functions of brain nerves. The apparatus consists of three parts, namely brain wave stimulator, field effect cap and multiplier. Clinical trials involving more than 100 patients showed that the apparatus had a 70 percent success rate in reducing symptoms of Parkinson's. The new equipment will help reactivate dopaminergic neurons, the reduction of which within the brain causes the disease. Parkinson's disease is a disorder of the neural system, which leads to limb tremors and difficulty in walking and other movements. China has 2 million sufferers, mostly people over the age of 50, and the number is increasing by 100,000 annually.