"Focused ultrasound is a disruptive technology, completely changing surgery as we know it today by treating with soundwaves instead of a scalpel," Israel-based InSightec Ltd. Using focused ultrasound, the nerve cells causing the tremor can be destroyed without any surgical incision. However, this invasive approach increases the risk of infection and patients have to undergo surgery to replace the pacemaker battery every few years. The device sends electrical signals to the thalamus to block its signals that cause the tremors. The other option, a surgical procedure called deep brain stimulation, involves implanting electrodes at the thalamus - the part of the brain controlling and coordinating muscle activity - attached to wires that connect to a pacemaker placed in the chest. The effectiveness of the drugs also tend to decline over time. One example is its application in essential tremors, a prevalent form of movement disorder affecting up to 3% of the global population.Ĭharacterized by the uncontrollable shaking of different parts of the body, current treatments include taking antiseizure or anti-anxiety drugs to alleviate the symptoms, though some patients may not respond to the medications. "There are so many ways ultrasound can affect tissue that it creates the opportunity to treat a whole variety of serious diseases," said Kassell. The technique can be used to produce a number of biological effects at the target, such as destroying tumors, directing drug molecules to the site, or stimulating the body's immune response. These include uterine fibroids, approved in 2004 pain from metastatic bone cancer in 2012 prostate diseases in 2015 and essential tremors in 2016. In the U.S., focused ultrasound has also been gaining traction, with a number of conditions being approved for treatment. "Much of the fundamental research and development came out of Chongqing University and other universities," said Kassell, adding that the large pool of patients available and Beijing's support for focused ultrasound helped give rise to the technology in the country. Currently, nine of the 12 manufacturers of focused ultrasound devices in Asia are based in China. In 1999, the China Food and Drug Administration approved focused ultrasound to treat a number of cancers, according to the foundation. This noninvasive procedure allows the high-energy beams to hit a specific target in the body, without having to make an incision like in conventional surgery.Ĭhina was the first adopter of the technology. The technology deploys multiple beams of ultrasound waves, concentrated through an acoustic lens to converge at a single point of contact. A professor of neurosurgery at the University of Virginia School of Medicine until 2016, Kassell formed the foundation in 2006 to promote the development and adoption of focused ultrasound.įocused ultrasound differs from ultrasound therapy, which uses vibration to apply heat to relieve musculoskeletal ailments such as tendonitis or lower-back pain.įocused ultrasound targets the thalamus in the brain in patients with essential tremors. "Focused ultrasound is the most powerful sound you will never hear, but it's a sound that can save your life," Neal Kassell, founder and chairman of the Focused Ultrasound Foundation, told S&P Global Market Intelligence in an interview. Ultrasound is a century-old discovery that has been widely used as a diagnostic tool to see inside the human body, but researchers have developed new ways of harnessing the sound wave for therapy.ĭespite its age, focused ultrasound technology did not gain regulatory approval as a therapy until about 20 years ago.
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