Learn about New Technologies for Deep Brain Stimulation
Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) and new technologies available for the procedure are the focus of the IETF’s latest virtual education event.
In “Timing is Everything: Your Journey from Diagnosis to DBS,” Dr. Philip Tipton discusses essential tremor, treatment options and what’s new on the DBS front.
DBS was approved as a treatment for ET in 1997. With DBS, electrical stimulation is delivered to the brain through an electrode implanted deep into the VIM nucleus of the thalamus. The electrodes are connected to a pacemaker-like device implanted in the chest. Tipton said research shows people with ET who have undergone DBS exhibit a 60-90 percent improvement in tremor.
Boston Scientific’s DBS model is discussed. The company offers new technology when it comes to electrodes used, offering 16 contact directional leads, which is 2.5 times more directional contacts than other system on the market. This means it offers more options for managing symptoms effectively.
Dr. Tipton is a neurologist, and director of the Cole Center for Parkinson’s & Movement Disorders at the University of Tennessee Medical Center, Knoxville.
We’re Getting Closer to Answers for ET
Why are the tremors happening? Is there something that will make them better? When will there be more treatment options?
These are the endless questions that echo in the heads of people impacted by essential tremor. Research is the path to those answers.
In 2001, the IETF began awarding grants to researchers dedicated to addressing the cause, development and progression of essential tremor. These grants are funded solely through donor contributions. With your support, we can continue this important program.
To date, the IETF has provided more than $1.3 million to help carry out promising studies. And this funding is paying off. Right now, a landmark IETF-funded study recently published in Nature Genetics, is changing the way we understand the condition.
The study examines the area of the brain most closely tied to movement and tremor. It looks at which brain cells are most affected in people with ET … how genes influence the way those cells behave … and how those cells respond to medication.
Please consider a donation to research today. With your ongoing support, we can continue funding the research that brings us closer to a cure.
IETF Awards 2026 Research Grant
The IETF has awarded a $150,000 research grant to the research study “The Boston Essential Tremor (BEST) Connectome: Mapping Circuit Architecture and Biological Subtypes.”
The overall goal of the study is to create advanced brain-mapping tools specifically for essential tremor (ET). It means developing a standardized 3D brain map tailored to ET patients to better understand, categorize, and treat the disease.
The Principal Investigator of the study, Dr. Aaron Warren, is an early-career investigator specializing in neuroimaging and neuromodulation, mentored by ET clinical and surgical leaders Drs John Rolston and Rees Cosgrove. This research grant will accelerate Dr. Warren’s path to research independence in tremor by producing field-defining resources and the preliminary data needed to compete for larger, longer-term funding and build a sustainable program in ET biology and circuit therapeutics.
Each year, researchers with an interest in studying the various aspects of essential tremor are encouraged to submit scientific proposals for grant funding from the IETF. A request for applications for our 2027 grant will be announced this fall.
Research Study Recruitment
Syn-T: Analysis of Cutaneous Phosphorylated alpha-Synuclein to Identify Patients at Risk of Progressing from Essential Tremor to Parkinson’s Disease
Dr. Christopher Gibbons and his team at CND Life Sciences are conducting a new research study to identify Essential Tremor (ET) patients who may be at risk of developing Parkinson’s disease. If you are between 50-85 years old and have been diagnosed with essential tremor or essential tremor-plus, you may be eligible to participate.
This two-year observational study involves skin biopsies to detect phosphorylated α-synuclein, a biomarker that may indicate early Parkinson’s disease. Participants will undergo comprehensive neurological assessments and follow-up evaluations. Compensation of $250 per completed visit is provided.
The study is being conducted at select movement disorder and clinical research centers across the United States. Enrollment is available through participating sites only — patients must be seen at a study site to be eligible.
To find out if there is a participating site near you, please visit ClinicalTrials.gov and search for “Syn-T” or “essential tremor alpha-synuclein.” You may also email the study team at ClinicalResearch@CNDLifeSciences.com with your name, telephone number, age, and diagnosis information, and they will help connect you with a site in your area, if there is one close by.
Study of Familial Characteristics of ET with Identical Twins
Dr. Elan Louis and his team of tremor researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UTSW) are conducting a new study of familial characteristics of essential tremor (ET).
They need help from the ET community. If you have ET and have an identical (monozygotic) twin sister/brother with ET, please contact the UTSW researchers at the following email address: tremor@utsouthwestern.edu
Please include your contact information in your message (including your name, telephone, and mailing address) and the preferred way to contact you.
Both you and your identical twin sister/brother would be interested in answering questions about your tremor and provide us with a videotape performing daily tasks like using a spoon or drinking from a glass (instructions will be provided).
You and your sibling may live anywhere in the United States and still qualify to participate; all interviews will be conducted via phone and mail.
PILOT Study of Essential Tremor
Dr. Elan Louis and his team of tremor researchers at UTSW Medical Center are conducting a new PILOT study of Essential Tremor (ET). They need help from the ET community. If you are at least 80 years old and have been diagnosed with essential tremor in the last 2 to 5 years, then please contact the UTSW researchers at the following email address: tremor@utsouthwestern.edu.
We are conducting a feasibility study during which we plan to contact you once and ask over the phone 10 questions, including age, gender, medication history, treatment received for ET, and location of tremor symptoms. After completing the screening, we will ask you if you would be interested in a future study.
Please include your contact information in your message, including your name, telephone and the time zone or state.
I’m confused as to what’s new neuro-wise for essential tremors. I did not see anything in the above? I had DBS surgery 2 yrs ago and I am doing amazingly well. I do see my Tremors increasing in severity when I have my DBS turned off at night. Being able to adjust to the increase in Tremors was significant in my choice of DBS over targeted ultrasound and it seems to have paid off.
When you watch the virtual education event, he explains that electrodes now come with 16 directional leads, which is 2.5 times the directional contacts of other DBS systems, giving more options of managing tremor effectively. The newer leads offer the most in span, spacing, and directionality for tremor control.
My head doesn’t shake anymore but my rt. Hand tremors when using a mouse for my computer.