Yamada Kazumichi
Department Kumamoto Health Science University Division of Speech-Language-HearingTherapy, Faculty of Health Science Kumamoto Health Science University Graduate School Division of Health Sciences, Graduate School of Health Sciences Position Professor |
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Research Period | 2009/04~2012/03 |
Research Topic | Visualization of structural change in patients with thalamic pain |
Research Type | KAKENHI Research |
KAKENHI Grant No. | 21591849 |
Responsibility | Representative Researcher |
Details | Thalamic pain is the most intense among intractable pain syndromes. By using an apparatus producing pain-less electrical stimuli, we established a method of quantitative analysis of the degree of pain that does not rely on subjective criteria. After surgical intervention (deep brain stimulation for posterior limb of the internal capsule), pain degree (PD) is parallel to traditional subjective pain scale (visual analog scale; VAS) in shortly (within 6 months), but they tended to dissociate later. VAS was modified to worse, whereas PD maintained to improve up to 36 months. Currently, we are accumulating image data for clarifying fine structural changes in brain underlying thalamic pain by using voxel-based morphometry (VBM). |