The randomized trial provides further data on the treatment. It has been developed by InSightec, which is funding the trial along with the Focused Ultrasound Foundation and the Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation.Ī pilot study on MRI-guided focused ultrasound treatment was published in 2013. In July, the Food and Drug Administration approved the device being used in the trial. Sharon Samuels performs an Archimedes spiral drawing test before and after her treatment for essential tremor in her left hand. I can eat like a normal person, doing things that I couldn’t do before.” “Now, it’s a pleasure, I can sign my name, I can write. “This has changed the quality of my life,” she said. After the procedure, which only focused on her left hand, her tremor there has almost disappeared. She had been taking tremor medication for almost a decade with little improvement. It has been shaking for years and they look at it as though, ‘Hmm, is this really my hand?’ It’s really a remarkable moment.”įor Samuels, who underwent the procedure on June 29, the recovery has been surprising. “As we enlarge the lesion, the tremor just stops and they’ll just look at their hand. Brigham is one of the six centers running the trial in the US. Rees Cosgrove who is leading the trial at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. “As we make the test lesion, we see a subtle improvement in their tremor and the patients notice it,” said Dr. They are awake as doctors aim over 1,000 low-energy ultrasound waves to create a lesion - an injury to the tissue - inside the thalamus. Patients are placed in an MRI machine with their head secured in place in a special helmet. The remote control that can help Parkinson’s patients
Then I hold out my left hand and it doesn't shake.įor more information about focused ultrasound, see How Focused Ultrasound Works.Exclusive analysis of biotech, pharma, and the life sciences Learn More I hold it out and it shakes all over the place. I use my right hand, which still shakes, as an example of how bad my tremor was. How are you today?Īs horrible as it was to talk about my tremor, now that it's gone in one hand, I love talking about it. For the next six weeks, my balance was off and I kept overreaching for things. Normally it would go flying, but I watched my hand reach for it with no tremor at all. The first thing I did was drink water from a small paper cup. After each wave, I drew the spiral again until I could draw it perfectly. Before the first wave, I drew a spiral so they had a baseline of my tremor. I was awake during the surgery so they could see how much ultrasound to apply. After that, they wheeled me to a neurosurgery facility two blocks away. Then they screwed a halo into my head in four places.
The first two parts-shaving my head and having a halo screwed into my skull-were traumatic. If it was too thick, the ultrasound waves wouldn't penetrate as effectively. Then he told me I'd have to do a CT scan to measure the thickness of my skull to see if I was a candidate.
He also said there's a chance it won't work. He said potential side effects include problems with balance and depth perception when reaching for objects. He also told me that my head would be shaved completely. He told me that they only do one side of the brain at a time, so only one hand would be affected. I talked about it with my neurologist, who explained what it entailed and described the possible side effects. It was a five-minute news video that showed someone whose hand shook uncontrollably before the procedure holding a cup of water afterward with no shaking. I happened to see a story online about someone who had FUS in Israel. How did you learn about focused ultrasound? I would have this whole conversation in my head, which sounded normal and casual, but then I'd chicken out and not say anything. At times I would tell myself I was going to say something. I never developed an easy way to talk about it. Photograph by Marius Bugge Did you ever tell people you had essential tremor? Before he asked about my headaches, he said, "You know, you have essential tremor." The neurologist then prescribed different medications, which didn't work. In my late thirties I started getting headaches, and my mother suggested I see a neurologist. You've had a tremor since you were 3, but you weren't diagnosed with essential tremor until you were an adult. Pictures of You December 2019/January 2020įocused Ultrasound Relieved Essential Tremor for This Financial ExpertĪlexandra Lebenthal was ashamed of her essential tremor-until focused ultrasound changed everything.
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