(Page 2 of 2)
Brain feedback: Focused ultrasound beams heat a target in the brain, while real-time images captured by the scanner give the neurosurgeon immediate feedback on the procedure.
University Children's Hospital Zurich
According to the new study, all nine patients reported immediate pain relief after the outpatient procedure and were up and about soon afterward. "Two patients had a glass of Proseco [wine] with us," says Ernst Martin, director of the Magnetic Resonance Center at the University Children's Hospital Zurich and lead author of the study. The patients did report feeling a few seconds of tingling or dizziness, and in one case a brief headache, as the targeted tissue heated up, he says. But none experienced neurological problems or other side effects after surgery.
"This will give a lot of impetus for manufacturers of focused ultrasound equipment to get interested in the brain," says Kassell. An experimental version of InSightec's ultrasound device is currently being tested in five medical centers around the globe. In addition to using it with Parkinson's patients and those who suffer other movement disorders, scientists plan to test the technology as a treatment for brain tumors, epilepsy, and stroke.
One downside of HIFU compared to the more invasive neurosurgeries performed with an electrode is that surgeons are unable to functionally test whether they have targeted the correct part of the brain. During traditional surgery for Parkinson's, for example, the neurosurgeon stimulates the target area with the electrode to make sure he or she has identified the piece of the brain responsible for the patient's motor problems, and then kills that piece of tissue.
"Not every functional neurosurgeon will accept this [new approach], because you cannot do a test before the lesion is made," says Ferenc Jolensz, director of the Division of MRI and Image Guided Therapy Program at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. Jolensz and collaborator Seung-Schik Yoo are developing ways to use HIFU to modulate brain activity in a localized area, which would enable functional testing of the target area before it is destroyed. Jolensz is also studying HIFU for brain surgery and has tested the technology on four patients with brain tumors, though the results have not yet been published.
New technology being tested could provide a noninvasive approach to treating stroke.
Researchers have combined two devices for real-time tumor tracking and treatment.
Ultrasound might provide a new, noninvasive way to control brain activity.
do you know who performs these procedures is a radiologist neurosurgeon techs? I find this fascinating as a sonographer not only can the do it. but there constantly apply ultrasound to other modalities. I just wish i was in location were i could learn about all these new uses for ultrasound and procedures. unfortunetly the hopital i work for dosent even encourage much continuing education. and the econom makes it worse. my best clinical experiences in school taught you so much and pushed you to learn and try new things. one hospital mvh in dayton had meetings once a mos w doctors sonographers nurses looking studying and eval difficult cases we quized eachother and pushed you to keep up on everything.
It is, in fact, an amazing technological advancement via non-invasive treatment of multiple brain difficulties and/or malfunctions.
The Behavior Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas first introduced, in 2003, the possibility of manipulating the structure of ultrasound so that it would be powerful enough to penetrate a human skull. After multiple successful clinical trials BRI applied for patent rights that same year on what would seem a very similar device except the Institute mechanism combines ultrasound with electromagnetism [Electromagnetic Brain Animation]allowing a non-Invasive penetration of the skull followed by dynamic influence of relevant brain cellular structure for the purpose of alleviation of multiple mental disorders.
There's not much doubt that both of these new medical devices have the potential to change treatment of the brain in a positive and siminal way.
William Rogers, Ph.D
Director, Behavioral Medicine
Behavior Research Institute
Brain surgery using sound waves
In 1951 I was stationed at Chanute Air Force base in Illinois - now closed. In a building near where I worked a sergeant I knew showed me some experimental work they were doing using sound waves to operate inside a brain. It involved securing a large inverted cone to the head which was filled with distilled water as a means of transmitting the sound waves. There were three sound emitters that were lowered into the water and which were focused at a point inside the brain, the idea being that a single sound wave would not cause damage but where the three intersected the tissue would be destroyed. It seemed like a fascinating idea but in all the years since I have not heard whether anything developed from the experiment. I can imagine that the technology of the time made it difficult to know where in the brain the sound waves were intersecting.
Manufacturing in the United States is in trouble. That's bad news not just for the country's economy but for the future of innovation.
On Twitter
Become a Fan on Facebook
Subscribe to the Feed
briang1621
173 Comments
Simply Wow!
This is truly amazing!
GE and Siemens take note of your next acquisition now, this could be the next multi-billion dollar device to complement the MRI! Actually, I would by this company now!
Dr. Brian Glassman
Reply