Stanford doctors treat Parkinson's disease patients with life-changing technology

STANFORD, Calif.

At Stanford University Medical Center a stunning innovation is just beginning.

Parkinson's disease patient Martha Gardner, 56, of San Jose strode confidently out the hospital front doors.

"(It's) revolutionary, I mean this has made a huge difference in my life, I'm walking well and not falling," she said.

An implanted electronic stimulator in her chest wired to her brain controls tremors she said she's struggled with for years.

But deep brain stimulation is only the first part of the 'revolution.'

In a third floor laboratory in the Movement Disorders Clinic, Parkinson's patient David Haygood, demonstrating turning his stimulator off. "Did you notice your tremors coming back a little on your chin?" asked neuroscientist Dr. Helen Bronte-Stewart, as she pointed to slight twitching of his lower jaw.

"No," Haygood answered. Suddenly, Haygood's right hand began shaking uncontrollably, spilling water from a small cup.

Haygood, 66, is one of six volunteers taking the next step in a clinical trial of an advanced type of brain stimulator.

"I've only turned this off a few times, always in this lab," said Haygood, who believes his tremors are caused by exposure to Agent Orange when he served as a combat photographer in Vietnam.

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Stanford doctors treat Parkinson's disease patients with life-changing technology