Robot helps cure boy, 15, of epilepsy

A TEENAGE boy has become one of the first children in the UK to have his epilepsy apparently cured with the help of a robot.

The robot drilled tiny electrodes deep into the brain of Billy Whitaker, 15, who had suffered daily seizures for seven years. These pinpointed the epicentre of his attacks with minute accuracy for the first time, allowing surgeons to remove a tiny piece of tissue that was causing the fits.

Since the operation on January 21, Billy has had no seizures and medics are confident he has been cured for good. The ground-breaking surgery could revolutionise the treatment of epilepsy for thousands of sufferers. The robot could also help with other conditions such as Parkinson’s.

Consultant neurosurgeon Michael Carter, of Bristol Royal Hospital for Children where the surgery took place, said: ‘This represents a revolutionary transition into the 21st century for epilepsy surgery.’ He said treatment ‘is incredibly well tolerated’ by patients and is ‘very safe’.

Billy, from Trequite, Cornwall, had part of his brain removed in 2014 but this only stopped his fits temporarily. So Mr Carter’s team used scans to create a 3D map of his brain. The new £350,000 Neuromate Robot then accurately positioned a drill over four spots before guiding in electrodes. These picked up brain signals when he had fits, allowing doctors to cut out the exact part of his brain responsible.

The operation, robotic stereotactic EEG, is thought to have been done on children in the UK only two or three times before.