Image via Everyday Health
An American musician has given the most unusual, intimate performance of his life – and it happened while he was receiving brain surgery.
That’s right. Not only was he awake while surgeons operated on his brain, but he also played the violin.
Robert Frisch had a mild tremor which was causing his hands to shake periodically. While he might have otherwise chosen to live with it, the tremor’s effects would have ended his career as a concert violinist. So Frisch opted to undergo a procedure known as deep brain stimulation.
If, like us, you have no idea what deep brain stimulation involves, Everyday Health explains it as a process where surgeons implant a tiny electrode in the thalamus, the area deep inside the brain that acts as its centre for pain perception. A current is turned on, which disables the thalamus and stops the tremor. It isn’t fully understood why this procedure works.
It’s very common for patients to be awake during this procedure so surgeons can observe how, or if, the tremor reacts as they insert the electrode. Frisch’s surgeon was concerned that his tremor was so mild he wouldn’t be able to tell whether he was placing the electrode properly, so engineers at the Mayo Clinic devised a plan that would take advantage of Frisch’s musical skills.
