Device helps ALS patient to breathe without ventilator

CHICAGO, IL – Angela Thompson, 41, had surgery to implant the NeuRx Diaphragm Pacing System at the University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System. The device, recently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, may help some patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease) to live longer without a mechanical ventilator.

The University of Illinois (UIC) Hospital & Health Sciences System is one of only a dozen hospitals in the US to use the said technology.

According to Dr Malek Massad, professor and head of cardiothoracic surgery at UIC, most ALS patients over the course of their disease develop reduced lung function or too-shallow breathing that requires them to have a tracheostomy or mechanical ventilator support.

ALS is a rapidly progressing, incurable disease characterized by progressive muscle weakness that results in paralysis. Eventual failure of the phrenic nerve’s innervation of the diaphragm results to loss of ability to breathe without ventilator support.

The device, which is implanted using minimally invasive laparoscopic techniques, provides electric stimulation to the muscle and nerves in the diaphragm. When stimulated, the diaphragm contracts, conditioning the muscle and improving resistance to fatigue under normal exertion.

"It works similar to a heart pacemaker," said Dr Khaled Abdelhady, assistant professor of cardiothoracic surgery at UIC, who participated in early development of the device and led the surgical team that operated on Thompson. "The device helps patients breathe easier by conditioning the diaphragm muscle through electrical stimulation."