Deep Brain Stimulation for Obesity Control: Analyzing Stimulation Parameters to Modulate Energy Expenditure

Obesity, with 300,000 deaths and a $75 billion economic burden per year is the second leading cause of death after tobacco in the United States. Obesity arises from an imbalance in the energy homeostasis system. Among several hypothalamic regions that control this homeostatic system, the ventrolmedial hypothalamic nucleus (VMH) stands out as a target for the development of a new clinical application in which deep brain stimulation (DBS) could be used to treat obesity. We have assembled a system capable of following in real-time the resting energy expenditure (REE) in response to DBS in the VMH. In this manuscript, we discuss a preliminary analysis of the DBS parameters needed to efficiently modulate energy expenditure. Our findings show that DBS in the VMH can increases the REE without affecting the mechanical energy expenditure (MEE) in a manner that appears to be frequency dependent. Our overall objective is to analyze the stimulation parameters of DBS in the VMH so that the feasibility of a clinical application for morbid obesity can be assessed