VAT08764 1

Vagus stimulation

In this pro­ce­du­re, gent­le elec­tri­cal impul­ses are appli­ed to the left vagus ner­ve and sent to the brain via this ner­ve.

What is vagus sti­mu­la­ti­on?

Vagus ner­ve sti­mu­la­ti­on (VNS) is appro­ved in Euro­pe for the tre­at­ment of drug-resistant epi­le­psy (MRE) and refrac­to­ry depres­si­on. The tre­at­ment is car­ri­ed out by sti­mu­la­ting the vagus ner­ve. The vagus ner­ve is the tenth of a total of twel­ve cra­ni­al ner­ves and inner­va­tes seve­ral organs such as the heart, lungs and gas­tro­in­testi­nal tract. VNS was first appro­ved in the Euro­pean Uni­on in 1994 and three years later in the USA. In 2010, a sys­tem for trans­cu­ta­neous vagus ner­ve sti­mu­la­ti­on (t‑VNS) was appro­ved in Euro­pe.

Are­as of appli­ca­ti­on

Non-inva­si­ve vagus ner­ve sti­mu­la­ti­on (nVNS) is a novel non-drug and non-sur­gi­cal tre­at­ment method for pati­ents with

  • drug-indu­ced hea­da­che (so-cal­led drug-ove­r­use hea­da­che)
  • Migrai­ne with and wit­hout aura
  • Clus­ter hea­da­che (Bing Hor­ton hea­da­che)
  • Hemi­cra­nia acu­tea
  • Ten­si­on hea­da­che (epi­so­dic and chro­nic)

with the help of a pati­ent-fri­end­ly, por­ta­ble device that emits mild elec­tri­cal signals.