Fifteen patients will have received deep brain stimulation surgery by the end of this year, Health Minister Joe Cassar said this morning.

Only one of these patients developed an infection, meaning the metal stimulator placed inside them must now be removed.

“But the procedure did not leave the patient worse off,” said consultant neurosurgeon Ludvic Zrinzo.

The Maltese surgeon, a leader in the field in the UK, has helped to set up Mater Dei Hospital to offer the procedure in Malta.

The surgery is intended for patients with neurological disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease, when medication stops being effective.

It involves a €20,000 “neurostimulator” implanted behind a person’s chest. This instrument, which can be likened to a heart’s pacemaker, sends electrodes to the brain.

“I was reborn,” said patient Tony Borg who has spent 10 years living with Parkison’s.

The surgery “miraculously” enabled him to start walking without a walking stick, drive more comfortably and use his arms and hands functionally, in a way he was not able to do before.

“I still can’t shave,” he says with a laugh, but the procedure has dramatically improved his quality of life and that of his family.

It has also enabled him to work harder and spend less money on medication, meaning the expensive procedure is also cost-effective, according to Mr Zrinzo.

Ten people, mostly Parkison’s patients, have already undergone surgery since last year. Another five are expected to begin next week, said Dr Cassar.

Mr Zrinzo is spearheading this surgery in Malta together with consultant neurologist Josanne Aquilina, who Mr Borg showered with praise for not treating her patients as files or numbers but people.

Ms Aquilina said it was important for patients to be given all the information necessary, regarding possible risks and side-effects, to enable them to make an informed decision.

Mr Zrinzo, who praised the Maltese doctors and warned the minister that he was prepared to poach them to the UK, is conducting research on ways to diminish the risks and make the procedure less stressful on patients.