Iranian Researchers Make Non-Invasive Deep Brain Stimulation Device to Treat Drug Addiction
“In temporal interference stimulation, two pairs of electrodes are used transcranially with two high-frequency sinusoidal currents, and the constructive interference of the two electric fields created by the currents increase the intensity of stimulation in a certain depth of the brain,” said Amir Akhavan, the head of the technical-research team and a faculty member of Isfahan University of Technology.
“In this research, the effectiveness of temporal interference stimulation in the treatment of morphine addiction was investigated for the first time in an animal model,” he added.
Noting that the electrical stimulation of the brain is a non-pharmacological intervention that is effective in the treatment of disorders like depression, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and addiction, Akhavan said, “Deep brain stimulation is a method that can be used to stimulate the deep areas of the brain in two invasive and non-invasive ways.”
In a relevant development in June, the Brain Innovation Center started work in Tehran with the support of Iran’s Vice Presidency for Science and Technology.
The Brain Innovation Center was inaugurated in a ceremony with the participation of Seyed Mohammad Mahdavi, the Secretary for the Development of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies Department of the Vice Presidency for Science, Technology and Knowledge-Based Economy, and Abdolreza Pazouki, the President of Iran University of Medical Sciences in Tehran.
The center has different departments of brain stimulation, brain signal recording, virtual reality, neurocognitive, cognitive assessment and rehabilitation and biofeedback laboratories.
“With the establishment of the brain innovation center, educational, research and therapeutic activities with interdisciplinary approaches will be carried out in a coordinated and coherent environment,” said Mahdavi in the inauguration ceremony of the center.
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