Targeted infusion of agents against parkinson's disease

1. A method of operating a navigation system comprising a computer controller including a processor, a non-transient memory device, and a human viewable display to develop a treatment plan for treatment of Parkinson's disease by delivery of a suitable agent within the brain of an associated patient, the method of operating the navigation system comprising:

using a device inserted into the brain of the associated patient, identifying a target region of the brain that is to receive the agent, said identifying comprises:

measuring electrical activity from cells within a region of interest of the brain via the device inserted into the brain;

identifying different cell types based on the measured electrical activity; and

identifying the target region to include cell types that exhibit the same electrical activity;

developing an initial plan for delivery of the agent to the target region, the initial plan comprising an initial flow rate of the agent to be introduced into the target region and an initial amount of the agent to be introduced into the target region;

using a magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging (MR-DTI) device, imaging the associated patient to obtain anatomical patient data and anatomical patient parameters of the target region, wherein the imaging comprises:

magnetic resonance diffusion tensor image scanning the target region to obtain MR-DTI data of the associated patient; and

calculating a diffusion tensor from the MR-DTI data of the associated patient;

performing a computer simulation of a distribution or concentration of the agent in the target region to produce a simulated agent distribution or simulated agent concentration, said simulation based on i) the initial plan for the delivery of the agent to the target region, ii) the anatomical patient data and the anatomical patient parameters, and iii) the calculated diffusion tensor; and

outputting the simulation as the treatment plan on the human viewable display for review by rendering the simulation superimposed on the image of the target region; and

refining the treatment plan by:

a) changing the initial plan for the delivery of the agent to the target region to include as a refined initial plan an adjustment of the initial flow rate of the agent to be introduced into the target region or an adjustment of the initial amount of the agent to be introduced into the target region;

b) performing the computer simulation of the distribution or the concentration of the agent in the target region to produce the simulated agent distribution or the simulated agent concentration, said simulation based on i) the refined initial plan, ii) the anatomical patient data and the anatomical patient parameters, and iii) the calculated diffusion tensor; and

c) repeating steps a) and b) until an outcome of the computer simulation of a last-refined treatment plan meets predetermined specified criteria.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

delivering the agent to the target region of the brain based on the last refined treatment plan.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein delivering the agent comprises:

delivering an agent selected from the group consisting of GDNF, GDNF expressing cells, GDNF expressing viral vectors and Adeno-associated virus systems.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein developing the initial plan comprises developing an initial planned placement of a delivery instrument for delivering the agent, and further comprising adjusting a flow rate of the agent based on an actual placement of the delivery instrument compared to the initial planned placement of the delivery instrument.

5. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

calculating a diffusion tensor of the target region;

simulating an electrical field of an electrode positioned in the target region; and

re-positioning the electrode in the target region based on the diffusion tensor and the simulated electrical field.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the re-positioning comprises positioning the electrode based on the simulated agent distribution and/or the simulated agent concentration.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein one or more of the calculating the diffusion tensor and/or simulating the electrical field comprises using at least one of chemical, pharmaceutical, biological and/or electrical properties of the agent to perform the respective calculation and/or simulation.

8. The method of claim 2 , wherein delivering the agent further comprises coordinating the delivery of the agent with an applied electrical stimulation signal.

9. The method of claim 2 , further comprising delivering the agent upon measuring and/or applying an electrical stimulation signal in the target region that is greater than, equal to, or less than a predetermined threshold level.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of imaging the patient to obtain the anatomical patient data and the anatomical patient parameters comprises:

acquiring at least one three-dimensional image of the target region;

wherein the outputting the simulation as the treatment plan on the display comprises rendering the simulation superimposed on the three-dimensional image of the target region.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the acquiring at least one three-dimensional image of the target region comprises obtaining image scans that have at least about 1 mm in-plane spatial resolution.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein developing the initial plan comprises developing an initial planned placement of a delivery instrument for delivering the agent, and further comprising providing alternate positions of the delivery instrument to achieve a predetermined agent concentration or distribution in the target region.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein developing the initial plan comprises developing an initial planned placement of a delivery instrument for delivering the agent, and further comprising providing guidelines for placement of the delivery instrument.

14. The method of claim 2 , wherein the delivering the agent to the target region comprises delivering the agent to the target region at a predetermined flow rate.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising limiting the predetermined flow rate to be less than about seven micro-liters per minute.

16. The method of claim 14 , further comprising limiting the predetermined flow rate such that a back flow of the agent is less than about three centimeters from a delivery point of the agent.

17. A method of operating a navigation system comprising a computer controller including a processor, a non-transient memory device, and a human viewable display to develop a treatment plan for treatment of Parkinson's disease by placement of a delivery instrument for delivery of a suitable agent within the brain of an associated patient, the method of operating the navigation system comprising:

identifying, by the navigation system, a target region of the brain that is to receive the agent, said identifying comprising:

measuring electrical activity from cells within a region of interest of the brain via a device inserted into the brain;

identifying different cell types based on the measured electrical activity; and

identifying the target region to include cell types that exhibit the same electrical activity:

using an imaging device, scanning the associated patient to acquire at least one image of the target region;

using a magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging (MR-DTI) device, MR-DTI scanning the target region to obtain NMR-DTI;

calculating, by the processor, a diffusion tensor from the MR-DTI data;

calculating, by the processor, at least one of an initial agent distribution or an initial agent concentration from the at least one image of the target region and the calculated diffusion tensor, and

using at least one of the calculated diffusion tensor, the at least one image, the calculated agent distribution, and/or the calculated agent concentration, developing, by the processor, as the treatment plan, an optimum placement of the delivery instrument to deliver the agent to the target region to achieve a desired agent concentration and/or agent distribution within the target region, wherein the developing comprises:

a) determining an initial placement of the delivery instrument, an initial flow rate of the agent, and an initial amount of the agent as an initial treatment plan for the optimum placement of the delivery instrument;

b) changing the initial treatment plan for delivery of the agent to the target region to include as a refined treatment plan an adjustment of the initial flow rate of the agent, an adjustment of the initial amount of agent introduced into the target region or an adjustment of the initial placement of the delivery instrument;

c) performing a computer simulation of the distribution or the concentration of the agent in the target region to produce a simulated agent distribution or a simulated agent concentration, said simulation based on the refined treatment plan and the calculated diffusion tensor; and

d) repeating steps b) and c) until an outcome of the computer simulation meets predetermined specified criteria.

18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising:

simulating an electrical field of an electrode positioned in the target region; and

re-positioning the electrode in the target region based on the diffusion tensor and the simulated electrical field.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein calculating at least one of an agent distribution or an agent concentration comprises simulating at least one of a concentration of the agent in the target region or a distribution of the agent in the target region, and further comprising revising the planned placement of the delivery instrument based on the simulated agent distribution, the simulated agent concentration and/or the simulated electrical field.

20. The method of claim 17 , further comprising:

delivering the agent to the target region in accordance with the treatment plan; and

coordinating the delivering of the agent with an applied electrical stimulation signal.

21. The method of claim 17 , further comprising:

acquiring data relating to individual anatomy and/or physiology of the patient; and

using at least one of the anatomy data, the physiology data, the image scans, the MR-DTI scan, the calculated diffusion tensor, the calculated agent concentration and the calculated agent distribution to perform a simulation of the agent concentration and/or the agent distribution.

22. The method of claim 17 , wherein using the at least one of the calculated diffusion tensor, the at least one image, the calculated agent distribution, and/or the calculated agent concentration to develop the treatment plan comprises:

rendering, as the developed treatment plan, on the human viewable display of the navigation system, the at least one of the calculated diffusion tensor, the at least one image, the calculated agent distribution, and/or the calculated agent concentration superimposed on the at least one image of the target region.