A schoolboy from south-west England has made medical history as the first in the world with severe epilepsy to trial a new device fitted in his skull to control seizures.

The neurostimulator, which sends electrical signals deep into his brain, has reduced Oran Knowlson’s daytime seizures by 80%.

Oran has Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, a treatment-resistant form of epilepsy which he developed at the age of three. 

Epilepsy seizures are triggered by abnormal bursts of electrical activity in the brain.

The device, which emits a constant pulse of current, aims to block or disrupt abnormal signals.