[QUOTE=lurkingforacure;1168721]I thought the purpose of this procedure was to sever a connection (ie, interrupt a circuit) in the brain, which is accomplished by destroying some cells...not necessarily target the STN for destruction. Now, are those cells in the STN abnormal? I didn't think so, and have never heard of this before.
And saying those cells in the STN must be abnormal or we wouldn't have PD is assuming they are the cause of PD, and I have never heard of that before, either. If that's true, why doesn't this procedure work for all PWP and abolish all symptoms?

QUOTE]

Lurking, this has become a very interesting discussion and probably time for us to get some direct feedback from the manufacturer and researchers. I'm going to send them emails for comment.

Regarding my comments, I never said the target was the Substantial Nigra. I said it was a subthalatomy targeting the subthalmic nucleus ,which is another part of the basil ganglia and next to the substantia nigra. However, I was incorrect in that regard as the video was from the Maryland U study, not the larger ongoing Virginia U study. The Maryland study (also being conducted at the U of Va) is targeting the Globus Pallidum, which is also a component of the basil ganglia near the substantia nigra.

In both studies, the procedure destroys tissue in the targeted area. That is a fact as reported by both the manufacturer, Insightec, and the research teams at both universities. So, I guess, back to your initial question, are the cells being destroyed "normal" functioning brain cells or "abnormal" in some way? That is the question I've asked the them in my email.

I will update with any responses I receive.

[QUOTE=lurkingforacure;1168347]1. is this primarily for tremor-dominant PWP?

I believe they are testing on people with tremor dominant PD.

This info was provided on one of the webs link that Soccertese posted:
http://www.fusfoundation.org/disease...nsonian-tremor


Focused ultrasound is being studied to treat two symptoms of Parkinson’s through lesioning of one of two target areas of the brain:

Parkinsonian tremor – lesioning target in the thalamus (thalatomy)
Parkinsonian dyskinesia – lesioning target in the globus pallidus (pallidotomy) or subthalamic nucleus
At this time, focused ultrasound is only being assessed to treat one side of the brain, so it will affect tremor or dyskinesia unilaterally.

Thalatomy trial wraps up this October after 3 years. Sure would be nice to see some results from this.

Here is a link to one report published last year


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4178774/

Ask Michael J. Fox
 

He had a thalamotomy done years ago, before revealing he had Parkinson's.

I doubt the FDA will be quick to approve permanent zapping of brain cells, but who knows?

Addendum:
After reading the article (link posted above by dilmar - ALL 25 pages!) there are several considerations to be taken with MRI focused ultrasound therapy. The work done in this area ( as noted in the article) dates back to 1959! I was a little shocked by this fact. So we definitely can't call this "new" work. And it works best on tremor-dominant people.

The key to any of these invasive procedures ( and focused ultrasound is invasive, also), is to find a very precise location deep in the brain's structures. The lazar can heat up surrounding skull bones and cause permanent damage, and with DBS, the exact location to the tiniest spot must be carefully found, possibly resulting in a brain bleed or stroke.

Read everything you can, talk to those who have had the surgery, pray, and keep your fingers crossed if considering this type therapy.