Nigrostriatal blood-brain barrier opening in Parkinson's disease.

Background: The nigrostriatal system is especially vulnerable to neurodegeneration in Parkinson's disease (PD) and the blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a limiting factor for delivery of therapeutic agents to the brain. This pilot study aimed to demonstrate safety, feasibility and tissue penetration (by 18F-Choline-positron emission tomography (PET)) of MR-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) simultaneous BBB opening (BBB-O) in the substantia nigra (SN) and putamen in PD.

Methods: Three patients underwent MRgFUS for midbrain and putamen BBB-O.

Non-thermal focused ultrasound induced reversible reduction of essential tremor in a rat model.

Background: Essential tremor (ET) is one of the most common movement disorders of adults, characterized by postural and kinetic tremor. With drug treatment only partially efficient, new treatments are being developed.

Objectives: The goal of this study was to demonstrate the feasibility of non-thermal focused-ultrasound (FUS) to induce tremor-suppression in an ET rat model.

Focused Ultrasound-Induced Suppression of Auditory Evoked Potentials in Vivo.

The goal of this study was to determine the feasibility of focused ultrasound-based neuromodulation affecting auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) in animals. Focused ultrasound-induced suppression of AEPs was performed in 22 rats and 5 pigs: Repetitive sounds were produced, and the induced AEPs were recorded before and repeatedly after FUS treatment of the auditory pathway. All treated animals exhibited a decrease in AEP amplitude post-treatment in contrast to animals undergoing the sham treatment.