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ORLANDO, Fla.—When UCF Professor Emeritus Richard Gilson diagnosed himself with Parkinson's disease a dozen years ago, one of his first thoughts was: Here's a great research opportunity.
Someone else might have focused on his limitations, but Gilson set about improving treatment of the progressive neurological disease. He and an Orlando neurosurgeon, Dr. Nizam Razack, have invented a device that one day could better control the debilitating tremors that Parkinson's causes.
“I have an advantage because I know what it feels like,” Gilson, 71, said at his home near Oviedo, Florida. “That gives me a real leg up on other researchers.”
Gilson, who retired in 2011 from the University of Central Florida psychology department, relies on a brain-stimulation device developed in 1987 by a French neurosurgeon, Dr. Alim-Louis Benabid. Gilson's goal is to make it better.
Gilson is not shy about showing off that invention, a battery the size of a pack of cards that bulges from under his skin near his right clavicle. Wires snake up the inside of his neck and attach to electrodes that deliver pulses of electricity to his brain.
The treatment, called deep brain stimulation, was approved for Parkinson's disease by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2002. It's an alternative to drugs, which become less effective over time and can have side effects, Gilson said.
Parkinson's is an incurable disorder that destroys nerve cells in the brain, according to the Parkinson's Disease Foundation. Symptoms include rigid muscles, tremors and difficulty walking and speaking. Sufferers have included former heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali, former Attorney General Janet Reno, actor Michael J. Fox, singer Johnny Cash and Pope John Paul II.
Without deep brain stimulation, Gilson shakes uncontrollably. With it, he is able to live an active life with the help of his wife of 50 years, Liz.
The downside is that Gilson must undergo potentially life-threatening surgery every two or three years to replace the battery, which he said is cumbersome and uncomfortable. Further, the wires can break, and the pulses aren't targeted precisely.
That led Razack and Gilson, who was his patient, to brainstorm ways to improve the technology. Their invention, yet to be manufactured, would eliminate the current wiring and battery and replace them with a quarter-sized apparatus implanted in the skull. It would include a nickel-sized rechargeable battery that would last about nine years.
The electricity would zero in on specific areas and pulse when needed, not constantly as the present device does.
Gilson also has been working on a version that does not require surgery.
“He's the ultimate problem solver,” said J. Christopher Brill, an assistant professor of psychology at Old Dominion University and Gilson's former UCF teaching assistant. They and two others invented a military-communications apparatus patented by UCF.
Gilson has approached other areas of his life with the same curiosity, energy, drive and focus.
An avid pilot who flew experimental aircraft before his illness, Gilson has logged more than 6,000 hours of pilot-command time. He fell in love with airplanes after he enlisted in the Navy during the Vietnam War, when he was stationed in Pensacola and flew trainer aircraft.
In 1987, Gilson retraced the route of Charles Lindbergh to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the famed aviator's historic trans-Atlantic flight. He also has been a helicopter flight instructor.
One of Gilson's inventions—he has held nearly a dozen patents—was successfully marketed as Foggles, pilot-training glasses that simulate flying in fog and clouds.
Razack said he's trying to get investors interested in developing the miniaturized brain stimulator, which must be tested and approved by the FDA. He and Gilson have been modifying it for the past couple of years, he said.
UCF, which is responsible for getting the device licensed, holds the patent.
Gilson and Razack hope their invention could also alleviate symptoms of epilepsy, personality disorders, Tourette's syndrome and perhaps even Alzheimer's disease.
“Dr. Gilson has a very positive outlook on life,” Razack said. “I think he's utilizing resources and his ingenuity to make things better for other people.”
The first in his family to go to college, Gilson holds master's and doctoral degrees in experimental psychology from Princeton University and a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Connecticut.
He was a professor in the departments of aviation and psychology at the Ohio State University before coming to UCF. Gilson continues to conduct scientific research at a home he and his wife own in Cedar Key, Florida.
Gilson had to give up flying, which he calls his greatest passion, because of the effect of Parkinson's, but he'd rather concentrate on what he still can do.
“I can't run a 100-yard dash to beat a world record,” he said. “I can't play the piano. I can't sing. But other people can't, either. We're all limited.”
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