Prof. Roland Beisteiner, MedUni Vienna, and a Parkinson’s Patient in an Interview with Austrian Broadcaster ORF2
TPS: “We have response rates of around 70% among patients”
On December 29, 2023, the Austrian public broadcaster ORF 2 aired a science program dealing with Transcranial Pulse Stimulation (TPS). The report, which came from the Medical University of Vienna’s Department of Neurology, presented the work of Prof. Dr. Roland Beisteiner. The neurologist has been researching TPS for many years.
The contribution focused in particular on the application of Transcranial Pulse Stimulation (TPS) in dementia and Parkinson’s disease. The latter is the second most common neurodegenerative disease and is particularly relevant as around 40 percent of Parkinson’s patients develop symptoms of dementia during the course of their disease. The article also included the example of a patient who has been treated with TPS at the university hospital since 2019.
Transcranial Pulse Stimulation: “Brain regions are activated and can work better again.”
Prof. Dr. med. Roland Beisteiner and his team have been dedicated to the research field of Transcranial Pulse Stimulation (TPS) since 2010. As a leading neurologist in the development and research of this non-invasive neuromodulation procedure, Prof. Beisteiner has published numerous scientific papers on TPS. In the ORF report, he explains how TPS impulses can activate specific regions of the brain, improving their functionality. This activation can help to restore mental and motor skills that have been lost as a result of nerve degeneration.
Prof. Beisteiner: “This can also be seen in functional images. We can create brain function images with the MRI and then see that we have lower brain activity before the therapy and higher brain activity in the important areas after the therapy.
“I can walk several kilometers again without canes, that’s no problem at all.“
A patient of Prof. Dr. med. Roland Beisteiner, Johann Zehetner, who has had Parkinson’s disease for seven years, serves as a concrete example of the effectiveness of TPS therapy in the article. Mr. Zehetner in the interview: “I wanted to take a chance and I am very pleased that I took this step.” He reports that he noticed improvements in his symptoms after the first treatment in 2019, which prompted him to continue the therapy.
“The problem with Parkinson’s is that you take short steps, not the normal length, and drag along the ground. This has steadily improved for me. I can now walk several kilometers again without sticks, it’s no problem at all,” said the patient.
To conclude the report, Prof. Beisteiner emphasizes that although Transcranial Pulse Stimulation (TPS) is a relatively new therapeutic procedure, the initial clinical results are “very, very good”. “We are seeing a response rate of around 70 percent in patients,” explains the neurologist. However, he notes that the exact extent of the placebo effects has not yet been fully clarified, which underlines the need for further studies.
The ORF report concludes with an outlook on the future: according to forecasts, the number of cases of dementia in Austria could double by 2050. In this context, Transcranial Pulse Stimulation (TPS) could provide valuable support for those affected.
The full article is available in the ORF media library. Please note that the ORF usually removes its contributions from the media library after seven days:
Update January 9th, 2024: The report is not available anymore.
