TIRAT CARMEL, Israel, August 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- InSightec Ltd, the global leader in MR guided Focused Ultrasound (MRgFUS), announced that it has received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to begin a Phase I clinical trial evaluating the use of its ExAblate Neuro system for the treatment of patients with tremor dominant Parkinson's Disease. Thirty patients who suffer from medication-resistant tremor of Parkinson's Disease will be treated in a randomized control trial and followed up for one year. ExAblate Neuro, pioneered by InSightec, combines high intensity focused ultrasound for deep accurate lesioning of the brain, with continuous real-time MR guidance for visualizing brain anatomy, planning and monitoring treatment and outcome. The lesioning is performed through an intact skull with no incisions or ionizing radiation. The trial will be sponsored in collaboration with the Focused Ultrasound Foundation of Charlottesville, Virginia. The Foundation has established a brain program to define and help implement a comprehensive R&D roadmap for brain applications with MRgFUS. Lead investigator is Dr. Jeff Elias, MD, Director of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery and Associate Professor of Neurological Surgery and Neurology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va. Dr. Elias was recently the principal investigator of a Phase … Continue reading →

Philadelphia, PA The Penn Medicine Parkinsons Disease and Movement Disorders Center at Pennsylvania Hospital recently received a gift of one million dollars from Jeff and Anne Keefer of West Chester, PA. "The Parkinsons Disease and Movement Disorders Center (PD&MDC) is a leader in clinical research and the treatment of Parkinson's disease, said Mr. Keefer, a patient of the Center. I have received excellent care at the Center and both my wife Anne and I gave this gift because we want to see an acceleration of research to find disease modifying therapies and hopefully, eventually, a cure. We want to help the Center continue to make a difference in research and patients lives." The PD&MDC was established in 1982 at The Graduate Hospital (now Penn Medicine Rittenhouse at 18th and Lombard Streets) by Howard I. Hurtig, MD, chief of Neurology at Pennsylvania Hospital, co-director of the PD&MDC, and Elliott Professor of Neurology in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and Matthew B. Stern, MD, director of the PD&MDC and the Parker Family Professor of Neurology in the Perelman School of Medicine. Together Doctors Hurtig and Stern wanted to provide comprehensive care to patients with Parkinsons disease and … Continue reading →

>>> in health news tonight we're going to talk about the 40,000 people diagnosed with parkinson 's disease every year in this country. a growing number of them are young, under age 50. more these days are turning to surgery to help keep their disease and symptoms at bay. tonight our chief medical editor dr. nancy snyderman has one remarkable success story. >> reporter: angela is a mother of four and a life-long runner. she used to start her days with a five- mile run , but lately her parkinson 's disease has made that and so much more impossible. >> i have little kids and they like to run around the yard. i would like to be able to keep up with them. >> reporter: angela is one of the estimated million americans living with parkinson 's disease a growing number under the age of 50. it is a degenerative disease which means it gets worse with time. >> that's me seven years ago just with one side. now it's switching over to both. >> reporter: she is off her medications because she has decided to try brain surgery to help her manage her disease and the surgery must … Continue reading →