How Brain Implant Helped Epileptic Patient Predict Attacks After Manufacturer Goes Bankrupt

Rita Leggett has suffered from epilepsy since she was three years old. Her attacks occur at the most bizarre times and are unpredictable, even going to the supermarket is a risk for her. Only when she is 49 years old do doctors offer her a possible solution: participate in a clinical study for an experimental device in the brain.

In 2010, she had four electrodes implanted in her brain to predict her attacks. They warn her via a device when one is on the way. The invention is being made by the NeuroVista company and is only in the experimental phase. The results are good with Rita. Whenever she is notified that an attack is imminent, she takes medication and is able to turn it off.

“I could just visit people and even drive the car,” Leggett said in interviews. During that happy period, she can also finally go on a date. This is how she gets to know her husband. But then disaster strikes: a while after the operation, Neurovista goes bankrupt. Investors are not interested in the device.

The patients have to have it removed, because the battery only lasts three years. Rita suggests taking out a mortgage so she can buy it out and have the battery replaced. But that turns out not to be an option. She ends up being the last patient in the study to have the NeuroVista removed.

Now, years later, Leggett still gets emotional when she thinks back on the plane: “I definitely miss the sense of security it gave me,” she says in a rare response. According to Leggett, it was part of her body, and therefore could not be removed. She still wants to participate in other studies, but she recently had a stroke, so the chance of her being admitted is small.

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