Transcranial Magnetic Resonance Guided Focus Ultrasound may have potential beyond just ablation, with the ability to modulate neuronal activity and potentially help patients with essential tremor or deliver medication for brain tumors.
The potential clinical use of transcranial magnetic resonance guided focus ultrasound goes beyond tumor treatment and may include the modulatory use of neuronal activity. Ultrasound can also aid in delivering medication to specific areas of the brain by opening the blood-brain barrier.
Essential tremor is the most common neurologic condition in patients over 70, and can often be misdiagnosed as Parkinson's. More awareness and advocacy is needed for this condition, which currently lacks a prominent public figure to champion its cause.
FDA approval of Focus Ultrasound for tremor treatment has caught attention because it can deliver non-invasive ablation to the brain in a hypothesized zone that eliminates the need for invasive surgeries. Although the method works really well for tremor, finding a new target for psychiatric diseases, obesity and eating disorders remains a challenge.