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9947618139

NEO IAS Science and Technology/General Science Current Affairs Prelims 2017

0484-4030104, 9446331522, 9446334122 9947618139 www.neoias.com Page 1

CONTENTS

A. SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY (2-11) 1. SPACE (2-6)

1.1 SCRAMJET ENGINE………………………………………..………………………. 2-3

1.2 QUANTUM COMMUNICATION LINE/MICIUS…………………... ……... …….. 3

1.3 TIANTONG-01 SATELLITE………………..………………….. ………………………… 3-4

1.4 VID FLUMINA………………………………………………………………………. 4

1.5 PROXIMA B………………………………………………………………………………… 5

2. ROBOTICS (5-6)

2.1 CYBATHLON 2016………………………………………………………………….. 5-6

3. BIOTECHNOLOGY (6-10)

3.1 DNA INDEX SYSTEM……………………………………………………………… ……... 6

3.2 FUNCTIONAL MANETIC RESONANCE IMAGING (FMRI)..................................6-7

3.3 ANDROGRAPHOLID DRUG………………………………………………………. ……... 7-8

3.4 CRISPER-CAS9 GENE EDITING TECHNIQUE………………………………………….. 8-9

3.5 POLARITON LASER……………………………………………………………… ……... 9

3.6 HPV VACCINE……………………………………………………………… …….. 9

3.7 MYCOBACTERIUM INDICUS PARANII (MIP)…………………………... ……... 9-10

4. NANOTECHOLOGY (10-11)

4.1 LAB-ON-A-CHIP TECHNOLOGY………………………………………….. ……... 10-11

B. GENERAL SCIENCE (11-13) 1.1 XMU-MP-1 MOLECULE…………………………………………………….. ……... 11

1.2 ENDOSULFAN………………………………………………………………. ……... 11-12

1.3 VIRTUAL BLACK HOLE……………………………………………………………......... 13

C. OTHER CURRENT AFFAIRS (13-17) 1.1 GLASS BRIDGE……………………………………………………………………... 13-14

1.2 AIRLANDER 10………………………………….................................................................. 14

1.3 C-BAND POLARIMETRIC DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR (C-DWR)………….. 14-15

1.4 MAGLEV TRAIN………………………………………………............................................ 15-16

1.5 DEEP BRAIN STIMULATION (DBS)……………………………………………………... 16-17



A. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

1. SPACE 1.1 SCRAMJET ENGINE

The first experimental mission of ISRO’s Scramjet Engine towards the realisation of an Air Breathing Propulsion System was successfully conducted on August 28, 2016 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota.

SCRAMJET ENGINE What A scramjet (supersonic combusting ramjet) is a variant of a

ramjet airbreathing jet engine in which combustion takes place in supersonic airflow. As in ramjets, a scramjet relies on high vehicle speed to forcefully compress the incoming air before combustion (hence ramjet), but a ramjet decelerates the air to subsonic velocities before combustion, while airflow in a scramjet is supersonic throughout the entire engine.

Designer / Developer Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)-Fully indigenous

Propellants It uses Hydrogen as fuel and the Oxygen from the atmospheric air as the oxidiser.

Launcher ISRO’s Advanced Technology Vehicle (ATV), which is an advanced sounding rocket, was the solid rocket booster used for test of Scramjet engines at supersonic conditions. ATV carrying Scramjet engines weighed 3277 kg at lift-off.

The Scramjet engine will also be used eventually to power ISRO’s reusable launch vehicle at hypersonic speed.

Advantages It does not have to carry oxygen.

No rotating parts makes it easier to manufacture than a turbojet

It has a higher specific impulse (change in momentum per unit of propellant) than a rocket engine; could provide between 1000 and 4000 seconds, while a rocket typically provides around 450 seconds or less.

Higher speed could mean cheaper access to outer space in the future

Disadvantages Difficult / expensive testing and development Very high initial propulsion requirements

Challenges Some of the technological challenges handled by ISRO during the development of Scramjet engine include the design and development of Hypersonic engine air intake, the supersonic combustor, development of materials withstanding very high temperatures, computational tools to simulate hypersonic flow, ensuring performance and



operability of the engine across a wide range of flight speeds, proper thermal management and ground testing of the engines.

Peculiarity India is the fourth country to demonstrate the flight testing of Scramjet Engine after the United States, Russia and European Space Agency.

1.2 QUANTUM COMMUNICATION LINE/ MICIUS China launched a 712-km quantum communication line, stated to be the world’s longest secure telecommunications network. It was nicknamed “Micius” after a fifth century BC Chinese philosopher and scientist.

QUANTUM COMMUNICATION LINE/MICIUS What It is a telecommunication satellite of china.

Function and features It boasts of ultra-high security making it impossible to wiretap, intercept or crack the information transmitted through them.

Linking area It links Hefei, capital of Anhui province, to Shanghai, the country’s financial hub.

It is part of a 2,000-km quantum communication line connecting Beijing and Shanghai. (The Beijing-Shanghai quantum communication line will be connected to the satellite through the line’s station in Beijing, enabling the space-to-Earth quantum communication network).

Peculiarity It is stated to be the world’s longest secure telecommunications network.

1.3 TIANTONG-01 SATELLITE China successfully launched the first satellite for mobile telecommunication.

TIANTONG-01 SATELLITE

What It is China’s satellite for mobile communication.

Designing and operating It was designed by China Academy of Space Technology

and its ground service will be operated by China Telecom.

http://www.business-standard.com/search?type=news&q=China





Launch vehicle Long March-3B carrier rocket

(It was produced by China Academy of Launch Vehicle

Technology).

Peculiarity It is the first satellite of China's home-made satellite mobile telecom system, and a key part of the country's space information infrastructure.

It will establish a mobile network with ground facilities, providing services for China, the Middle East, Africa and other areas.

Launch location Southwestern China's Xichang Satellite Launch Centre

1.4 VID FLUMINA NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has discovered steep-sided canyons, hundreds of meters deep, on Saturn’s moon Titan that are flooded with liquid hydrocarbons.

VID FLUMINA

What Vid Flumina is a canyon of liquid methane and ethane on Saturn's moon Titan.

Narrow canyons The finding represents the first direct evidence of the presence of liquid-filled channels on Titan, as well as the first observation of the deep canyons.

They are generally less than a kilometre wide, with slopes steeper than 40 degrees.

They also are quite deep-those measured are 240 to 570 metres from top to bottom.

The branching channels appear dark in radar images, much like Titan’s methane-rich seas.

Radar as altimeter Cassini’s radar was used as an altimeter, sending pings of radio waves to the moon’s surface to measure the height of features there.

The researchers combined the altimetry data with previous radar images of the region to make their discovery.

The radar instrument observed a glint, indicating an extremely smooth surface like that observed from Titan’s hydrocarbon seas.

The timing of radar echoes, as they bounced off the canyons’ edges and floors, provided a measure of their depths.




1.5 PROXIMA B The European Southern Observatory recently announced the discovery of Proxima b.

PROXIMA B What It is a planet that orbits a star (Proxima Centauri) that’s quite

close to the solar system. Proxima Centauri is our sun’s nearest star neighbour.

Features It is only 4.2 light years away-in other words, light can travel this distance in 4.2 years.

The planet is believed to be rocky, with the right temperature to host water, and with the right size for life to thrive on.

It is 25 times closer than Earth is to our sun, but since its star is only 12 percent as massive as our sun and much dimmer so it’s in the habitable zone.

The find has been called "the biggest exoplanet discovery since the discovery of exoplanets."

2. ROBOTICS

2.1 CYBATHLON 2016 Even as the Rio Olympics fever runs its course, athletes around the world are preparing for a competition of a different kind-Cybathlon 2016-which will see amputees using prosthetic limbs to perform daily tasks. An Indian team too, trained and supported by Riselegs, a Bengaluru-based organisation that specialises in devising prosthetic legs and mobility devices made of cane, will participate.

CYBATHLON 2016

About it Happening for the first time, Cybathlon, set to begin in Zurich, will host 74 athletes from 25 countries.

They will participate in competitions that cut across six



disciplines: brain computer interface, powered arm, powered leg races, powered exoskeleton and wheelchair race.

Unlike the Paralympics, the Cybathlon looks for excellence and innovation in the way of interfacing the human and the robotic components. Not surprising then that it has been called the Cyborg Olympics.

3. BIOTECHNOLOGY

3.1 DNA INDEX SYSTEM As part of its proactive policing, the Andhra Pradesh government launched a DNA Index System, claimed to be the first such system commissioned by any State in the country for the purpose of human identification.

DNA INDEX SYSTEM Purpose behind it It aims to make Andhra Pradesh a crime free state in India

through the usage of latest technology in forensic labs.

About it This system uses the latest DNA technology tool developed by integen X, USA known as RapidHIT DNA system.

It allows generation of DNA profiles from live samples such as buccal swabs, blood strains, saliva etc., within less than two hours as the currently available technologies takes at least two days or more.

Role of DNA profiling It plays a crucial role not only in solving crimes, by placing the suspects at the scene of crime by linking the suspects with the crime scene while also helping to prove their innocence.

3.2 FUNCTIONAL MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING (FMRI) Researchers have, for the first time, decoded and predicted the brain activity patterns of word meanings within sentences.



FUNCTIONAL MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING (FMRI) What It is a technique for measuring brain activity.

Development The development of FMRI in the 1990s, generally credited to Seiji Ogawa and Ken Kwong, is the latest in long line of innovations, including positron emission tomography (PET) and near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), which use blood flow and oxygen metabolism to infer brain activity.

Working It works by detecting the changes in blood oxygenation and flow that occur in response to neural activity – when a brain area is more active it consumes more oxygen and to meet this increased demand blood flow increases to the active area.

Advantages It is non-invasive and doesn’t involve radiation, making it safe for the subject.

It has excellent spatial and good temporal resolution. It is easy for the experimenter to use.

Application It may help brain injury and stroke patients communicate better.

It can be used to produce activation maps showing which parts of the brain are involved in a particular mental process.

It is also being applied in clinical and commercial settings.

3.3 ANDROGRAPHOLID DRUG Researchers at the Pune-based National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS) have been successful in isolating cancer stem cells that cause skin cancer. They have also been able to demonstrate that a compound (Andrographolide) isolated and purified from a herb (Andrographis paniculata) that is found in India to be effective in inhibiting tumour growth-both skin cancer and lung metastasis-in mice.

ANDROGRAPHOLID DRUG

What It is a drug which has ability to inhibit tumor growth.

Developer Researchers at the Pune-based National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS)

Stem cell properties Researchers used multiple markers, including CD133, to isolate and characterise the cancer stem cells in mice and human-specific skin cancer cell lines. The CD133 positive cells exhibit stem cell properties in various cancers.

To establish that CD133 positive cancer stem cells cause cancer, the researchers injected the cells subcutaneously into mice. All the animals that were injected with CD133 positive cancer stem cells developed skin cancer (melanoma).



The CD133 positive cancer stem cells developed tumour faster than non-cancer stem cells.

The CD133 positive cancer stem cells also produced lung metastasis in a different set of mice that received the cells through intravenous injection.

Efficacy of Andrographolide drug

To test the efficacy of Andrographolide drug candidate, which is being tested in several clinical trials, in inhibiting tumour growth, the researchers injected the compound into the tumour bearing mice.

Two different drug dosages were used. The compound at 50 mg/kg body weight dosage was able to inhibit primary tumour (melanoma) growth by about two-third at the end of 24 days.

In the case of a higher dosage of 150 mg/kg body weight, the compound was found to inhibit melanoma growth by more than two-third at the end of 24 days.

Usually patients with malignant skin cancer die because of lung metastasis. So the researchers tested the efficacy of the compound in inhibiting lung metastasis by injecting the drug directly into the mice which were previously injected with melanoma cancer stem cells intravenously.

At the end of 27 days, the drug cleared the lung metastasis by about 90 per cent.

3.4 CRISPER-Cas9 GENE EDITING TECHNIQUE Chinese scientists performed the world’s first genetic editing trial on humans, in an attempt to find a cure for lung cancer.

CRISPER-Cas9 TECHNIQUE

What It is a technique to selectively edit genome parts and replace

them with new DNA stretches.

CRISPER CRISPR, short for clustered regularly interspaced short

palindromic repeats, was named “2015 Breakthrough of the

Year” by the U.S. journal Science. It is a collection of DNA

sequences that direct Cas9 where to cut and paste.

Cas9 Cas9 is an enzyme that can edit DNA, allowing the alteration

of genetic patterns by genome modification.

Working Doctors extracts T-cells (a type of immune cell) from lung

cancer patients and edit them.

The edited cells will then be multiplied in the laboratory

before being reintroduced into the patient’s body.

T-cells are then expected to attack tumour cells.

Application CRISPR-Cas9 technology has the potential to revolutionise



the treatment of blood diseases, tumours and other

genetic diseases.

3.5 POLARITON LASER Scientists have, for the first time, developed laser from fluorescent jellyfish proteins that were grown in bacteria.

POLARITON LASER What It is a laser developed from fluorescent jellyfish proteins-

enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP).

Developer Gather and colleagues from the University of Wurzburg and Dresden University of Technology in Germany, genetically engineered E coli bacteria to produce eGFP.

Features These lasers have the potential to be far more efficient and compact than conventional ones and could open up research avenues in quantum physics and optical computing.

The team created a polariton laser that operates at room temperature powered by nanosecond pulses - just billionths of a second.

Application By repurposing the fluorescent proteins that have revolutionised biomedical imaging, and by allowing scientists to monitor processes inside cells.

3.6 HPV VACCINE A decade after its launch in the global market, the debate around the HPV vaccine hasn’t settled. In India, public health experts still remain unconvinced about its efficacy.

HPV VACCINE

About it The vaccine offers protection against sexually transmitted Human Papilloma Virus.

The vaccine also averts the risk of contracting cervical cancer.

It should be administered before the first intercourse. WHO (World Health Organisation) recommends two doses

of the vaccine preferably in the age of 9-13 years.

3.7 MYCOBACTERIUM INDICUS PARANII (MIP) The first exclusive vaccine for leprosy, made in India, will be piloted in five districts of Bihar and Gujarat in a few weeks as a part of the country's efforts at eradicating the crippling disease that affects 1.25 lakh people every year.



MIP What It is a vaccine for leprosy

Developer The vaccine developed by founder-director of the National Institute of Immunology (NII) G P Talwar.

Approval It has been approved by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) and the US-FDA.

Peculiarity It is the first vaccine for leprosy, and India will be the first to have a large-scale vaccination programme.

About vaccine It will be administered as prevention for people living in close contact with those infected by the bacteria.

It expedites cure rate if given to people with skin lesions.

4. NANO TECHNOLOGY 4.1 LAB-ON-A-CHIP TECHNOLOGY

Scientists at IBM have developed a new lab-on-a-chip technology that can, for the first time, separate biological particles at the nanoscale and could help detect diseases such as cancer before symptoms appear.

LAB-ON-A-CHIP TECHNOLOGY Technology Researchers showed size-based separation of bioparticles

down to 20 nanometres (nm) in diameter, a scale that gives access to important particles such as DNA, viruses and exosomes.

Once separated, these particles can be analysed to potentially unveil signs of disease even before patients experience any physical symptoms and when the outcome from treatment is most positive.

Until now, the smallest bioparticle that could be separated by size with on-chip technologies was about 50 times or larger, for example, separation of circulating tumour cells



from other biological components.

Exosomes Exosomes range in size from 20-140 nm and contain information about the health of the originating cell that they are shed from.

Exosomes are increasingly being viewed as biomarkers for the diagnosis and prognosis of malignant tumours. They are released in easily accessible bodily fluids such as saliva, urine or blood. They represent a precious biomedical tool as they can be used in the context of less invasive liquid biopsies to unveil the origin and nature of a cancer.

Researchers showed they could separate and detect particles as small as 20 nm from smaller particles, that exosomes of size 100 nm and larger could be separated from smaller ones, and separation can take place in spite of diffusion, a hallmark of particle dynamics at these small scales.

Challenges Researchers targeted exosomes with their lab-on-chip technology as existing scientific techniques face challenges for separating and purifying exosomes in liquid biopsies.

B. GENERAL SCIENCE

1.1 XMU-MP-1 MOLECULE Chinese scientists have discovered a small molecule which can regenerate the tissue and could make organ transplant much easier in future.

XMU-MP-1 MOLECULE Applications

It can promote repair and regeneration in the liver, intestines and skin.

In the future, the pills may do away the need for organ transplant or complex biomaterial and cell therapies. (The XMU-MP-1 has proven to inhibit the activity of MST1/2, the central component of this pathway and promote cell growth in four different mouse models of acute and chronic injuries, including acetaminophen-induced injury, which is a common cause of liver failure worldwide).

1.2 ENDOSULFAN For the first time, researchers in India have found that mice and rats exposed to endosulphan suffer

from DNA damage and genomic instability, and impaired DNA damage response.



ENDOSALFAN What Endosulfan is an off-patent organochlorine insecticide

and acaricide that is being phased out globally.

Usage Endosulfan has been used in agriculture around the world to control insect pests including whiteflies, aphids, leafhoppers, Colorado potato beetles and cabbage worms.

Health effects

Endosulfan is one of the most toxic pesticides on the market today, responsible for many fatal pesticide poisoning incidents around the world. Endosulfan is also a xenoestrogen-a synthetic substance that imitates or enhances the effect of estrogens-and it can act as an endocrine disruptor, causing reproductive and developmental damage in both animals and humans.

Recent studies about it The team found mice and rats exposed to endosulfan generated reactive oxygen species, a potent DNA damaging agent. The reactive oxygen species, in turn, caused DNA damage in the form of breaks in DNA strands. The broken DNA strands generally tend to repair themselves by rejoining. But endosulfan treatment was found to cause “extensive processing of broken DNA” leading to increased and long deletion in the strands.

Endosulfan also increased the damage by promoting erroneous repair of the broken DNA strands. Erroneous repair would lead to undesirable genome level changes leading to genomic instability, which may cause cancer and genetic abnormalities.

One of the major mechanisms by which broken DNA strands are repaired is through non-homologous end joining (NHEJ). There was no difference in the rate at which both control animals and endosulfan-treated mice repaired broken strands using this mechanism. However, in endosulfan-treated mice and rats, there was enhanced activity of an error-prone and harmful repair mechanism (microhomology mediated end joining — MMEJ).

The MMEJ repair mechanism is responsible for long deletions in the DNA strands, chromosomal translocations and genomic instability leading to cancer. MMEJ occurs at extremely low frequency in normal cells. But in endosulfan-treated animals, MMEJ became predominant.



1.3 VIRTUAL BLACK HOLE Scientists who created a virtual black hole in the lab claim to have observed for the first time a

phenomenon predicted by British physicist Stephen Hawking more than 30 years ago according to

which some particles can escape black holes.

VIRTUAL BLACK HOLE Builder Jeff Steinhauer, a physicist at the Israel Institute of Technology

built a virtual black hole in the lab

Purpose To prove that Hawking’s theory of radiation emanating from black holes is correct.

Basis Experiments are based on sound, rather than light.

Result The quantum effects of Hawking radiation in his lab as part of a virtual black hole-which, if proven to be true, will be the first time it has ever been achieved. (For many years, scientists believed that nothing could ever escape from a black hole-not even light. However, in 1974, Stephen Hawking suggested particles, that are now called Hawking radiation, could escape black holes.)

C. OTHER CURRENT AFFAIRS 1.1 GLASS BRIDGE

The world’s longest and highest glass bridge opened to visitors in Hunan province of China.

GLASS BRIDGE About it Designed by architect Haim Dotan.

The 430-metre long, 6-metre wide bridge, paved with 99 panes of three-layer transparent glasses, hangs between two steep cliffs 300 metres above the ground.

The bridge has set 10 world records spanning its design and construction.

A maximum of 8,000 visitors are allowed to cross the bridge every day.



It offers a panoramic view of the Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon.

1.2 AIRLANDER 10 The world's "largest aircraft" has embarked on its maiden flight, four days after a previous attempt

was abandoned due to technical issues.

1.3 C-BAND POLARIMETRIC DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR

(C-DWR) In a bid to improve weather forecasting services, Indian Space Research Organisation has

commissioned a Doppler weather radar at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC).

C- BAND POLARIMETRIC DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR (C-DWR) Designing and developing The DWR has been designed and developed by Radar

AIRLANDER 10 What Airlander, part airship and part airplane, is the world’s

largest aircraft.

Builder It was built by the Hybrid Air Vehicles in UK.

Intention It is originally developed for the US army as a surveillance aircraft.

Features The craft measures 90 metres in length and holds a capacity of 10,000kg (22,050lbs).

It can fly at up to 4,880 metres and reach speeds of 148 kilometres per hour.

Filled with helium, it can stay airborne for more than two weeks unmanned and up to five days if manned.

It aircraft itself weighs approximately 20,000 kg and has been nicknamed, ‘The Flying Bum’ due to its wierd shape.

With a cruising speed of 148kmph (92mph), it can carry up to 48 passengers.

Other usage It has potential uses in the commercial sector, such as carrying cargo.

(It does not require any runway to get airborne. Hence, it could easily be used to transport cargo to remote areas).



Development Area, ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC), ISRO

Manufacturer It was manufactured by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), Bengaluru.

Realization The DWR was realised with active support from Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC), Guwahati of India Meteorological Department (IMD), and North Eastern Space Applications Centre (NESAC), Department of Space, Umiam, Shillong.

Location The only other C-DWR facility in the country is located at Cherrapunji in Meghalaya. Two more units are coming up in Bhuj in Gujarat and Gopalpur in Odisha.

Application The Doppler Weather Radar (DWR) provides advance information, enhancing the lead-time so essential for saving lives and property, in the event of natural disaster associated with severe weather within a radius of 400 km.

Though the conventional radars are able to track and predict cyclones, the DWR provides detailed information on storm’s internal wind flow and structure.

The severity of the weather systems can thus be quantitatively estimated more accurately than ever before and more precise advance warnings can be generated for saving human lives and property.

The polarimetric capability of the Radar will significantly improve the accuracy of rainfall estimation leading to accurate and timely flash flood warnings.

It is also designed to improve precision in long-range weather forecasting and surveillance using the Doppler Effect.

Features It hosts instruments to measure rainfall intensity wind shear (sudden change in wind direction and velocity with height) and helps locate storm centres and the direction of tornadoes or gust fronts.

It is equipped with a parabolic dish antenna and a foam sandwich spherical radome

Working The radar works by bouncing a microwave signal off a target and analysing how the object's motion has altered the frequency of the return signal.

1.4 MAGLEV TRAIN The Indian Railways plans to introduce Maglev trains, in a bid to lure passengers from airlines.

Maglev, which is derived from the term 'magnetic levitation', is a transport method that employs

magnetic levitation to move the vehicle without touching the ground. With maglev technology, a

vehicle travels along a 'guideway' using magnets to create both lift and propulsion.

MAGLEV TRAIN Developer It will be developed by Indian railway



Advantages It can run at a top speed of 500 km an hour.

They are less expensive to operate and maintain, because the absence of rolling friction means that parts do not wear out quickly.

Owing to the stability, Maglev railcars can be built wider than conventional railcars, offering more options for using the interior space and making them more comfortable to ride in.

Maglev trains produce no air pollution during operation, because no fuel is being burned.

As there is no friction, the train produce almost no sound making the ride smoother for the passengers.

Maglev systems can operate on higher ascending grades compared to traditional railroads, reducing the need of land modification in order to accommodate the tracks.

Magnets made from ferrite (an iron compound) or alnico (alloys of iron, aluminium, nickel, cobalt, and copper) produce a stronger magnetic field than ordinary magnets which helps lift and channelize the train cars over the directed 'guideway'.

Disadvantage The cost of construction of the Maglev train track also involves a lot of expenses as it require some rare earth elements like scandium, yttrium, and 15 lanthanides.

Countries are having maglev train

Maglev trains are in operation in China, Japan, Germany and South Korea.

1.5 DEEP BRAIN STIMULATION (DBS) When every combination of drug fails and does not bring relief to patients suffering from Parkinson’s Disease (PD), a therapy, Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS), could bring much needed respite to such patients.

DBS Other name It is popularly known as the pacemaker for the brain.

DBS Therapy

It involves placing electrodes in the brain’s ‘sub-thalamus’ region.

This is only for patients who can’t control their movements despite using various combinations of drugs or face serious side effects from medications.

Working The electrodes are connected to a pacemaker (Implantable Pulse Generator) which sends electrical signals to the brain to stimulate its activity.

The pacemaker is placed just below the collar bone, and



runs on a battery, which has a shelf life of five years.

Benefits These medical advancements apart from providing symptomatic relief to patients suffering from Parkinson’s also help improve their overall quality of life.

(Parkinson’s disease is a progressive disorder of nervous system, which primarily affects movements and speech, usually starting with tremors, stiffness and slowing of movements).

9446331522, 9446334122, 0484-4030104 , … · 2017-04-27 · neo ias science and technology/general...

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