Neurostimulation devices for children: lessons learned

Intracranial neurostimulation therapies, namely deep-brain stimulation and responsive neurostimulation, are well established for the treatment of neurological disorders in adults. There has been an accelerated interest and use of these therapies to treat children with neurological diseases, in particular epilepsy and dystonia. In paediatrics, a well respected doctrine is that children are not just small adults, 1 The LancetTime to be serious about children's health care. Lancet. 2001; 358: 431 Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (8) Google Scholar and this sentiment should be followed when designing medical technologies for children. However, most currently available neurostimulation devices were designed for adults before later being repurposed for children. These devices are therefore suboptimal for meeting the specific needs of children, who require additional design considerations to those of adult-centric technology. In this Comment, we define the child-specific requirements for the development of intracranial neurostimulation devices on the basis of current evidence, experience, and patient and public involvement.