Lasers, robots, and tiny electrodes are transforming treatment of severe epilepsy

If the brain is a musical instrument, "the electrophysiology is the music," says Dr. Alexander Khalessi. New tools to treat epilepsy patients now let doctors "listen to the music a little bit better." (Kateryna Kon/Science Photo Library/Getty Images)

When Tom's epileptic seizures could no longer be controlled with drugs, he started considering surgery.

Tom – who asked that we not use his last name because he worries that employers might be alarmed by his medical history – was hoping doctors could remove the faulty brain tissue that sometimes caused him to convulse and lose consciousness.