First child

Tim (13) was implanted with a chip for epilepsy

Senior physicians Gudrun Gröppel and Christian Auer treated Tim at the Kepler University Hospital in Linz.(Bild: KUK)

This has never happened before in Austria: a boy from Innviertel was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of six and had minor seizures every day. A new technology is now set to help the young man, who is now 13 years old. He was implanted with a chip at Kepler University Hospital.

Tim has suffered from epilepsy since he was six years old. "He has minor seizures every day," says his mother. But now there is hope for improvement for the 13-year-old from the district of Schärding: Tim is the first teenager in Austria to have a so-called EASEE implant inserted into his brain. This is intended to reduce epileptic seizures.

"A stimulator is attached directly to the bone above the area where the seizures begin. It is placed under the scalp in a minimally invasive way, so to speak," explains senior physician Christian Auer from the Kepler University Hospital (KUK) in Linz, where the 90-minute procedure took place under general anesthesia. "A generator is then implanted under the skin in the chest area, which - without touching the brain - sends electrical impulses to the epileptic focus at short intervals," continues Auer. The young patient does not feel these impulses. "Once the wound has healed properly, the device is programmed externally," says the senior physician.

A stimulator is attached directly to the bone above the area where the seizures begin.

Oberarzt Christian Auer, Kepler Klinikum

Hoping for stability
Around 80,000 people in Austria suffer from epilepsy. The new implant is intended to help when medication does not work. It has been approved for adults since 2023 and is now also available to young people at KUK as part of a clinical trial. "It was clear to us from the start that it wasn't realistic for Tim to be seizure-free," says his mother. "But we hope that we can achieve a certain degree of stability and reduce the medication and its side effects."

"Patient zero" survived the operation well
The 13-year-old survived the operation well. How the inserted chip works remains to be seen. "We are keeping a diary and hope to see a positive effect soon," says Tim's mother.