Apollo Hospitals, Chennai announced the country’s first clinical activation of Adaptive Deep Brain Stimulation (aDBS) for Parkinson’s disease, marking a new era of real-time, personalised neuromodulation therapy.

The breakthrough procedure was carried out on March 2, 2026, by Dr. Vijayashankar Paramanandam, Dr. Arvind Sukumaran, and their multidisciplinary team, under a programme led by internationally fellowship-trained specialists in movement disorders neurology and functional neurosurgery.

A recent study in British Medical Journal projects that 2.8 million people in India could be living with Parkinson’s disease by 2050, making the country second only to China.

Speaking on the milestone, Dr Vijayashankar Paramanandam, Senior Consultant Neurologist & Movement Disorders and DBS Specialist, Apollo Hospitals, Greams Lane, Chennai, said:“Adaptive DBS is an important advance in Parkinson’s therapy. Adaptive DBS represents the next major evolution from conventional, continuous DBS therapy. By actively monitoring the brain’s unique electrical signals, the system responds instantaneously, delivering the precise amount of stimulation exactly when it is needed. This effectively smooths out unpredictable symptoms and improves the quality of life, bringing us closer to truly personalized DBS care.”

Dr. Arvind Sukumaran, Senior Consultant Neurosurgeon, Apollo Hospitals, Greams Lane, Chennai, added: “In any new technology, what matters is patient benefit. Following activation, programming and clinical follow-up over a month, we have seen encouraging early response in terms of stability throughout the day. That is a meaningful outcome in Parkinson’s, where fluctuation is often the most challenging aspect to manage.”

The first patient, a 62-year-old man, also reported a noticeable difference in day-to-day stability after activation and follow-up programming.

Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurological disorder that significantly affects movement, independence, and quality of life. Patients living with the disease for several years, requiring multiple medications, and experiencing disabling “off” periods or dyskinesias may benefit from advanced interventions such as DBS when referred at the right stage.

This achievement places Apollo Hospitals among the early adopters of next-generation, responsive neurostimulation platforms, highlighting how artificial intelligence-driven sensing and precision neuromodulation are beginning to reshape Parkinson’s care in India.