Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) has been found to be effective treatment of Parkinson’s disease (PD). This study aims to evaluate the effect of DBS for rigidity during DBS surgery. Six Parkinsonian patients who received STN-DBS surgery participated in this study. The examiner imposed flexion and extension of a patient’s wrist randomly. Resistance to passive movement was quantified by viscoelastic properties (two damping constants for each of flexion and extension phase and one spring constant throughout both phases). All Viscoelastic constants decreased by DBS (p<0.01). Specifically, reduction in damping constant during flexion (Bf) was greater than those of damping constant during extension (Be) and of spring constant (p<0.05). Bf would be appropriate for evaluation of effect of DBS for rigidity during DBS surgery.
