REESE

This talk will describe the unlikely development of vagus nerve stimulation for the treatment of epilepsy. The projected started with funding December 1987 and gained FDA approval in July 1997. This was an entirely new approach to treat epilepsy which involved overcoming many obstacles, including funding, clinical misunderstanding and rejection, new design techniques for implantable pulse generator and leads with limited budget and time, developing stimulation parameters based on indirect animal studies, and responding to rapidly changing FDA requirements. The FDA Panel Chairman compared this with the development of the Model T automobile and was looking forward to further developments. An entirely new method to detect seizures was developed and approved. A better understanding and appreciation of the parasympathetic nervous system emerged and led to clinical studies of several new indications, some of which have gained FDA approval.

Biography:

Reese Terry is the retired Founder and CEO of Cyberonics, Inc. Previously he was Chief Technical Officer of Intermedics, Inc and also held engineering positions at CTS Microelectronics, Cordis Corporation, and Sperry Microwave. He has a BSEE and MSEE from the University of Kentucky, which awarded him an Honorary Doctor of Engineering in 2019. He has many patents which have been incorporated in FDA-approved implantable devices. He received two Industrial Research, Inc. 100 Awards. He received the 2012 IEEE EMB Pioneer in Technology Award; the 2012 Epilepsy Foundation of America World Changer Award and the 2013 Society of Brain Mapping and Therapeutics Professional Achievement Award.