Utility of Postoperative Imaging Software for Deep Brain Stimulation Targeting in Patients with Movement Disorders

-OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of the SureTune3 postoperative imaging software in determining the location of a deep brain stimulation (DBS) electrode based on clinical outcomes and the adverse effects (AEs) observed. -METHODS: Twenty-six consecutive patients with Par-kinson disease (n = 17), essential tremor (n = 8), and dystonia (n = 1) who underwent bilateral DBS surgery (52 electrodes) were included in this study. Presurgical as-sessments were performed in all patients prior to surgery and at 3 and 6 months after surgery, using quality-of-life and clinical scales in each case. The SureTune3 soft-ware was used to evaluate the anatomical positioning of the DBS electrodes. -RESULTS: Following DBS surgery, motor and quality-of -life improvement was observed in all patients. Different AEs were detected in 12 patients, in 10 of whom (83.3%) SureTune3 related the symptoms to the positioning of an electrode. A clinical association was observed with Sur-eTune3 for 48 of 52 (92.3%) electrodes, whereas no asso-ciation was found between the AEs or clinical outcomes and the SureTune3 reconstructions for 4 of 52 electrodes (7.7%) from 4 different patients. In 2 patients, the contact chosen was modified based on the SureTune3 data, and in 2 cases, the software helped determine that second elec- trode replacement surgery was necessary.-CONCLUSIONS: The anatomical position of electrodes analyzed with SureTune3 software was strongly correlated with both the AEs and clinical outcomes. Thus, SureTune3 may be useful in clinical practice, and it could help improve stimulation parameters and influence decisions to undertake electrode replacement surgery.

Automated summary

The study evaluated the accuracy of the SureTune3 postoperative imaging software in determining the location of a deep brain stimulation electrode. The results showed a strong correlation between the SureTune3 software and clinical outcomes and adverse effects.