Overview
- Denise Bacon, 65, played the clarinet during awake deep brain stimulation at King’s College Hospital to help surgeons assess effects on finger movement.
- Stimulation after placing electrodes on the left side of the brain produced an instant improvement in her right-hand dexterity, with mirrored results on the opposite side.
- The four-hour procedure used a stereotactic frame and small cranial openings to target deep brain structures with millimetric accuracy.
- Electrodes were connected to a chest-implanted, rechargeable pulse generator designed to last up to about 20 years and allow ongoing programming.
- The hospital shared footage of the operation, and Bacon reports early gains in walking as she aims to resume activities like swimming and dancing.