Shared from parkinson.org.
People with Parkinson’s disease (PD) experienced significant improvement in tremors, mobility, and other movement symptoms after undergoing a minimally invasive procedure using focused ultrasound, a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine shows.
Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has become the main surgical treatment for people with PD who do not fully respond to levodopa. It involves the invasive surgical placement of tiny wires into the targeted brain area, which is then stimulated by sending electrical signals through the wires. Focused ultrasound is a treatment that emits high-intensity sound waves into the brain, guided by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Where these waves cross, they create high energy, which creates heat, destroying a specific area in the brain connected to tremor. It is considered non-invasive because it does not involve incisions or holes in the skull.