Decreasing battery life in subthalamic deep brain stimulation for Parkinson's disease with repeated replacements: Just a matter of energy delivered?

Background: People with Parkinson's disease (PD) treated with deep brain stimulation (DBS) with non-rechargeable implantable pulse generators (IPGs) require elective IPG replacement operations involving surgical and anesthesiologic risk. Life expectancy and the number of replacements per patient with DBS are increasing.

Objective: To determine whether IPG longevity is influenced by stimulation parameters alone or whether there is an independent effect of the number of battery replacements and IPG model.