Delray Medical Center is now the first hospital in the region to treat a patient with the new MR-guided focused ultrasound by INSIGHTEC™. This technology is a scalpel-free treatment for essential tremor and medication-refractory tremor-dominant Parkinson’s disease. This device uses sound wave energy to treat brain tissue as the source of the tremor and there is no surgical incision or anesthesia necessary.
The MR-guided focused ultrasound combines two technologies, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which pinpoints the exact location in the brain responsible for the tremor, and ultrasound, which precisely delivers over 1,000 highly focused beams of acoustic energy at that exact location without damaging any surrounding brain tissue.
Some of the benefits to this technology include:
• No surgical incisions resulting in reduced risk of infection.
• Quicker recovery time with no surgical incision, allowing a return to daily activities within days.
• Performed as an outpatient procedure – most patients go home within 23 hours.
• Immediate and significant reduction in hand tremors.
• Treatment has minimum side effects.
