FDA Approves MRI-guided Ultrasound for Tremors

The FDA approved InSightec’s focused ultrasound device to treat essential tremors in patients who have not responded to medication.

ExAblate Neuro uses magnetic resonance images to deliver focused ultrasound to destroy brain tissue in a tiny area thought to be responsible for causing tremors.

The condition is also treated with beta blockers or anticonvulsants, and when medications fail to control symptoms, essential tremor can be treated with surgery or a deep brain stimulation device.

Those undergoing treatment, lie in an MRI scanner that takes images to help a doctor identify the targeted area in the brain’s thalamus. Treatment with transcranial focused ultrasound energy is administered with incremental increases in energy until patients achieve a reduction of tremor. Patients are awake and responsive during the treatment.