September 18, 2026

@michaelokun

What resonated with me from the final session of DBS Think Tank XIV on digital health-guided neuromodulation was how rapidly digital tools are beginning to connect the entire therapeutic journey, from predicting and planning to programming and long-term monitoring. Alireza Gharabaghi showed a compelling vision for Digital DBS, using data and machine learning to predict outcomes, refine surgical targets and trajectories, and enable physiology-informed and remote programming. Diego Guarin showed how something as accessible as a smartphone video can be transformed through computer vision into quantitative measures of bradykinesia and other motor features, potentially making DBS programming more objective, scalable and available beyond expert centers. Vibhor Krishna extended this concept with automated motion-sensor functional mapping, which can reduce the number of settings clinicians need to test, while his broader work in advanced imaging, tractography and focused ultrasound reminds us that digital health is not simply about wearables or apps; imaging and data can help us choose the right patient, identify the right circuit, target it more precisely and objectively measure what happens afterward. It was a fitting way to close the Think Tank: the future of neuromodulation may be increasingly digital, objective, personalized and accessible, but its success will still be measured by whether we use these tools to improve the lives of the people we serve.