At the 16th International Symposium on Therapeutic Ultrasound 2016 (ISTU) in Tel Aviv, Israel, INSIGHTEC hosted a first time live broadcast from the MRI room at Rambam Medical Center in Haifa.
The ISTU attendees witnessed a live Exablate Neuro treatment on a patient with essential tremor. The treatment was conducted by neurosurgeon, Menashe Zaaroor; neurophysiologist, Alon Sinai; neurologist, Ilana Schlesinger; and radiologist, Dorith Goldsher. The three-hour procedure was performed while the patient was fully conscious, with no incisions and no anaesthesia.
During the procedure, the INSIGHTEC Exablate Neuro system was used to focus multiple beams of acoustic energy to heat and destroy target cells in the thalamus. The target cells were visualised in real time using MR imaging.
The results were immediate. The patient, a sixty-five-year-old baker, said “I wanted to cry, because I could not remember when I was able to drink a glass of water, and for the first time in over 10 years, I can finally return to serving people in my bakery.” Immediately post procedure, the patient was able to walk from the MR room, sit down and cut cake in celebration of the success of her procedure.
“We are excited to offer our patients a new, non-invasive therapy to control their movement disorders,” said Professor Menashe Zaaroor, head of Neurosurgery at Rambam Medical Center. “Utilisation of MR-guided focused ultrasound could help limit the life-altering side effects of essential tremor, to make the disease more manageable and less debilitating.”
“This patient suffered from essential tremor for over 10 years. She tried every medication that exists and she did not want deep brain stimulation or electrodes planted on her brain. This procedure was very short, and within three hours, our patient was without tremor,” said neurologist, Ilana Schlesinger. “We had our first patient two years ago and she is still without tremor. I think it is the most gratifying and amazing treatment that exists. Pre-treatment, all of our patients suffer from severe tremor and they all come out of the Exablate Neuro treatment without it. I call it magic,” added Schlesinger.
To see Israeli Ynet’s video coverage of the treatment click here
