By: Sandy Houseman

Published on the NORTHWEST FOUNDATION website

The University of Virginia will soon begin research that could help Parkinson's patients. Doctors will use focused sound waves to create changes in the brain that will remove or reduce the vibrations. The University of Virginia is one of many medical centers testing the use of focused ultrasound. Doctors use sound waves to destroy unwanted tumors and other tissue that they can see with an MRI. So far they have shown that it is possible to eliminate pathways in the brain that cause tremors and movement problems. Fifteen patients underwent the external and bloodless procedure who showed improvement in their condition.

Dr. Binit Shah says that a second study involving additional medical centers is planned for people suffering from ESSENTIAL TREMOR and another clinical study - this one includes 30 patients in Virginia - who will be treated against tremors in Parkinson's disease. By now it is already known that burning or destroying certain areas of the brain results in the prevention of unwanted movements, but the focused ultrasound is non-invasive.

"So unlike other types of treatments that all involve creating holes in the skull and through them metal wires are inserted into deep structures in the blood, some of them stay there and through them an electric current is passed to create a signal or they are heated to destroy structures in the brain, we can focus the ultrasound waves to heat the area in the brain and cause the same damage" says Dr. Shah. There is a possibility, he says, that focused ultrasound could treat nursing problems associated with Parkinson's disease. "We can cause damage in other areas of the brain. They can have different beneficial effects - not only on tremors but also on other phenomena such as slowness and muscle stiffness." She says that it will take several years until the effectiveness and safety of the treatment is determined and it will not be accessible until after the FDA approves that focused ultrasound reduces or prevents tremors and is safe.

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Source: Public Radio Station WVTF