Precisis GmbH was originally founded in the year 1997, selling stereotaxy software and equipment. In 2015 Dr. Angela Liedler, a medical doctor and a visionary entrepreneur, reformed Precisis and with EASEE® started an innovative and keen project to revolutionise epilepsy treatment. In addition, she is one of the co-founders of Healthcare Frauen e.V., a network dedicated to strengthening women in leadership positions in the healthcare industry.
Being a medical doctor, Angela was aware of the limited treatment options for epilepsy once medication fails to work.
Though epilepsy patients are treated with strong oral medication, one in three patients suffers from continuous epileptic seizures or is severely troubled by pharmacological side effects. Why wasn’t there an electronic device that could simply suppress the epileptic seizure with an electrical impulse? The zeal made Angela want to reform the health care industry.
Angela and her team developed an electronic device which can beimplanted just underneath the skin right above the epileptic focus. The EASEE® system, based on the Laplace electrode, can provide a the rapeutically meaningful and very focused electrical field in the diseased brain area. To implant this device, just two cuts in the skin are necessary. One on the head for the placement of the electrode, and the other one in the chest area for the IPG. No sensitive tissue, like the brain or nerves, are being touched in the process.
“Brain stimulation implant meets huge medical need”
Two distinct stimulation patterns help control the seizures twoways. One delivers short high frequency alternating current bursts throughout the day, which is meant to interfere with upcomingseizures. The other pattern consists of direct current-like stimulation, which is applied once a day for 20 minutes and helps calm the brain over the long term. The stimulation intensity is set below sensory threshold, so the patient doesn’t feel the stimulation and can go about their daily life without having to think about their therapy.
The EASEE® device has gone through two clinical studies conducted in seven European specialized epilepsy centers to prove its safety and efficacy. In these studies, EASEE® showed tremendous efficacy results, with 84% of the severely ill patients benefitting after six months of stimulation; at the same time, no device-related serious adverse events have been reported.
53% of study patients saw their seizure frequency reduced by more than 50% (so-called responders), and 17% of patients got completely seizure free. EASEE® set a milestone in healthcare.
The main focus for EASEE® at the moment is the treatment of epilepsy. But, as the polarity of stimulation can be switched to either excite or inhibit the underlying brain areas depending on the needs of a given patient, the treatment of other neurological disorders lies in the close future. A closer look has been given to speech impairment after stroke (aphasia) and neuropathic pain. Both conditions have been shown to respond well to external stimulation techniques like transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) or transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS).
The Precisis Team is highly diverse with experiences individuals and young ones with an enterprising spirit who all share the common goal of bringing next-generation neuromodulation solutions to the patient bedside. The team’s personalities and backgrounds are quite multifaceted; there are physicists, physicians, psychologists, or mathematicians, with 44% of the employees being female. The differences keep the team members on their toes and challenge one another to think outside one’s own box to achieve the best possible outcome for the patients.
