Focused Ultrasound for the Brain

Frontal MRI four days after MRI-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound: Left ventral intermediate nucleus thalamotomy of a 79-year-old man with essential tremor. Jmarchn, via Wikimedia Commons.

Clinicians have long used ultrasound to image inside the body, but it may prove even more useful as a therapeutic tool. Already approved for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and essential tremor, researchers are exploring focused ultrasound for a variety of other neurological and psychiatric conditions.

Read my latest article for IEEE Pulse: Treating the Brain with Focused Ultrasound.