Mini Devices
From: NASA Tech Briefs Insider - 08/16/2007

Purdue University researchers have developed tiny devices that are implanted
in the brain to predict and prevent epileptic seizures, and a nanotech sensor
implanted in the eye to treat glaucoma. The first project is a transmitter
three times the width of a human hair that is implanted below the scalp to
detect signs of an epileptic seizure before it occurs. The system records
neural signals relayed by electrodes in the brain. 

Said Pedro Irazoqui assistant professor of biomedical engineering, "When
epileptics have a seizure, a particular part of the brain starts firing in a
way that is abnormal. Being able to record signals from several parts of the
brain at the same time enables you to predict when a seizure is about to
start, and then you can take steps to prevent it." Data from the transmitter
is picked up by an external receiver, also being developed by the Purdue
researchers. 

The second project is a sensor implanted in the eye to monitor glaucoma by
measuring pressure in the eye's interior. The disease causes blindness from a
buildup of fluid pressure in the interior chamber of the eye, killing fibers
in the optic nerve. Glaucoma patients have their eye pressure checked
regularly, but it can change at any minute. "What you really need to do,"
said Irazoqui, "is check it often, every couple of minutes, but you can't go
to the doctor every couple of minutes for the rest or your life. So what you
need is a device that measures your eye pressure continuously."  

The pressure sensor, which is placed between two layers of tissue in the eye,
measures the interocular pressure and transmits the information to an
external receiver so pressure can be continuously monitored. 

Read the entire article at:
http://news.uns.purdue.edu/x/2007b/070807IrazoquiEpilepsy.html

Links:
Pedro Irazoqui
https://engineering.purdue.edu/BME/People/viewPersonById?resource_id=20328

Brain Computer Interface Laboratory
https://engineering.purdue.edu/BCILab/index.html

Mini Implanted Devices Could Treat Epilepsy
http://groups.ivillage.com/epilepsyandseizures

Now That's Using Your Brain
http://www.wired.com/medtech/health/news/2006/04/70568