#75: Frans Gielen – From Idea to Evidence: The Making of Modern DBS

In today’s episode of Stimulating Brains, we have the pleasure of speaking with Frans Gielen — a physicist and biomedical engineer who played a foundational role in shaping modern deep brain stimulation. Over more than three decades at Medtronic, Frans worked at the intersection of engineering, neurology, and surgery during the formative years of DBS, when stereotactic imaging protocols, targeting strategies, and surgical workflows were still being defined in real time.

He supported and trained teams in more than 2,000 DBS implantations worldwide, helping refine operative techniques and imaging standards long before they became routine. Beyond the operating room, Frans designed and managed several of the pivotal clinical trials that ultimately led to CE marks in Europe and FDA approvals in the United States — including landmark studies in VIM DBS for tremor, STN and GPi DBS for Parkinson’s disease, the first controlled trial of DBS for obsessive–compulsive disorder, and later the MORE trial in epilepsy.

In this conversation, we explore the practical, technical, and regulatory work required to transform DBS from a promising idea into a reliable, evidence-based therapy — and reflect on what it took to build the foundations that the field stands on today.