In a bid to improve the diagnosis of patients suffering from epilepsy, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) got an advanced epilepsy neurobiology laboratory as a part of the centre for epilepsy on Thursday.
According to the doctors at AIIMS, this is a one of its kind in the country and will aim at advanced research, which will benefit epilepsy patients. The lab is part of the centre for excellence for epilepsy and is headed by P Sarat Chandra (Neurosurgery) and Manjari Tripathi (Neurology). “The objective is to understand the mechanisms of this complex disease so that the knowledge obtained from research can be applied to enhance the outcome of surgeries,” said P Sarat Chandra, professor of Neurosurgery at AIIMS.
He further said “The neurobiology lab boasts of advanced research facilities to perform single neuron cell recordings and complex molecular and cellular analysis of brain samples in patients, who have undergone epilepsy surgery.”
Epilepsy affects over 10 million people in India. Approximately, 25-30 per cent of these patients have drug resistant epilepsy, say doctors. “These patients require a surgical option to cure their disease. Unlike brain tumour, surgery for epilepsy is complex and requires a plethora of investigations to be performed. Often in about 30-40 per cent of these cases, all investigations prove negative. Therefore advanced research is needed to look further into the matter,” said Manjari Tripathi, professor of Neurology, AIIMS.
According to the doctors at AIIMS, this is a one of its kind in the country and will aim at advanced research, which will benefit epilepsy patients. The lab is part of the centre for excellence for epilepsy and is headed by P Sarat Chandra (Neurosurgery) and Manjari Tripathi (Neurology). “The objective is to understand the mechanisms of this complex disease so that the knowledge obtained from research can be applied to enhance the outcome of surgeries,” said P Sarat Chandra, professor of Neurosurgery at AIIMS.
He further said “The neurobiology lab boasts of advanced research facilities to perform single neuron cell recordings and complex molecular and cellular analysis of brain samples in patients, who have undergone epilepsy surgery.”
Epilepsy affects over 10 million people in India. Approximately, 25-30 per cent of these patients have drug resistant epilepsy, say doctors. “These patients require a surgical option to cure their disease. Unlike brain tumour, surgery for epilepsy is complex and requires a plethora of investigations to be performed. Often in about 30-40 per cent of these cases, all investigations prove negative. Therefore advanced research is needed to look further into the matter,” said Manjari Tripathi, professor of Neurology, AIIMS.