Real-world multicenter assessment of sustained clinical outcomes after digital deep brain stimulation
Remote, internet-based deep brain stimulation programming for Parkinson's disease accelerates clinical benefits postoperatively by improving access to therapy adjustments compared to in-clinic optimization. After completion of the initial digital programming phase, we show that clinical outcomes, quality of life, and safety remain sustained over at least twelve months under routine care conditions. Embedding a randomized trial within a larger cohort study enables long-term, real-world evaluation, offering a scalable and pragmatic model for assessing complex digital interventions in routine clinical care. (NCT05269862 registered on 2022-03-08 and NCT04071847 registered on 2019-08-28).
Authors
- Hong Gang Lei (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-3639-2637)
- Daniel Weiß (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0447-7132)
- Ramiro Álvarez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8053-7232)
- Sergiu Groppa
- Jessica Karl
- Benjamin L. Walter (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8323-6873)
- Damian M. Herz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0503-6008)
- Mary Feldman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1589-2833)
- A Gharabaghi
- Claudia Salazar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2547-2106)
- Devyani Nanduri
- Corneliu Luca
- Prof Alfons Schnitzler
- Lan Luo
- Lin Zhang
- Elena Casas
- Michael J. Soileau
- Chengyuan Wu
- Laura Muñoz-Delgado
- Vicky L. Marshall
Institutions
- Northwestern University (US)
- Dartmouth–Hitchcock Medical Center (US)
- Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (US)
- Harvard University (US)
- University of Arizona (US)
- University of Miami (US)
- Thomas Jefferson University (US)
- Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ES)
- Biomedical Research Networking Center on Neurodegenerative Diseases (ES)
- Abbott (United States) (US)
- Düsseldorf University Hospital (DE)
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red (ES)
- Hospital Universitario de La Princesa (ES)
- Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Tübingen (DE)
- Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research (DE)
- Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío (ES)
- Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol (ES)
- Neurological Surgery (US)
- Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (GB)
- International Neuromodulation Society (US)
- Indiana University School of Medicine
- Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (DE)
- Rush University (US)
- Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis (US)
- University of Tübingen (DE)
- University of California, Davis (US)
- Saarland University (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- npj Digital Medicine
- Published
- 2026-01-14
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-025-02315-5
- Primary Topic
- Neurological disorders and treatments
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00