Tremor treatment by ultrasound waves for Parkinson's patients 

Tremor as part of Parkinson's disease

Some patients with Parkinson's disease suffer from tremors. It is usually a tremor at rest, with a low frequency, which improves when making a deliberate movement.

Some patients with Parkinson's do not experience tremors at all, others suffer from tremors as the main symptom of their disease.

The parkinsonian tremor is sometimes bilateral, but sometimes the disease is relatively asymmetrical and more prominent on one side of the body, and accordingly the tremor involves one side of the body more than the other. 

Patients with advanced Parkinson's disease who suffer from unilateral tremor as the main symptom of their disease can benefit from treatment that allows a significant improvement in unilateral tremor. It is important to note that this treatment does not provide an answer to the other symptoms of the disease.

the course of treatment

The treatment is currently carried out in Israel in Rambam and Tel Hashomer.

Before the procedure, the patient is required to shave his head and undergo an MRI.

On the day of the procedure, a metal frame is assembled that is fixed to his head and on top of that is a special silicone ring and a kind of helmet. The patient is transferred to the MRI machine where water is flowed around his head, and a focused ultrasound beam is transmitted which creates local heat and burns at a high temperature a brain area that is involved in the creation of tremors in the disease.

The entire procedure lasts several hours, and it is done with caution. During the targeted heating, the patient is checked several times to verify improvement in tremors and the absence of unwanted side effects, before creating the final burn.

The treatment does not require opening the skin of the scalp or the skull, but penetrates deep into the brain and creates focused and irreversible damage to the brain tissue, in the area affected by the disease.

In most patients, there is a significant and long-term improvement in tremors on one side of the body.

It is a relatively new technology in Israel and around the world, so no articles have yet been published about the long-term results of the treatment. 

This treatment, the fruit of Israeli technology, is currently approved by the Ministry of Health but is not included in the health basket.

The treatment is currently approved in Israel for patients with "primary tremor" (ESSENTIAL TREMOR).

Dr. Idit Tamir
Director of the functional neurosurgery service
Department of Neurosurgery, Rabin Medical Center - Beilinson Hospital