SEATTLE — About 5% of people over the age of 60 experience essential tremor, a nervous system condition that causes involuntary movements most frequently affecting the hands.
“Essentially if you want to think about it from a 30,000-foot view, there’s a small area in the brain that is overactive, which leads to people having uncontrollable movements,” said Dr. Tony Wang of the Swedish Neuroscience Institute.
The uncontrollable shaking can make it difficult for some patients to do basic tasks, like writing, cooking and eating. But, an innovative, minimally invasive treatment called focused ultrasound is helping patients with essential tremor.
“When you hear about ultrasound in medicine, people think about scans, frequently looking at babies or what have you,” Dr. Wang said.
Focused ultrasound is different. It uses ultrasonic waves to precisely target and destroy tissue deep within the body without the need for surgery or incisions. For essential tremor, focused ultrasound targets a small area deep inside the brain that regulates movement.
“We can do that without cutting your scalp open or drilling a hole in your skull,” Dr. Wang said.
Traditionally, essential tremor has been treated through an open brain surgery that requires the placement of wires or electrodes.
“It’s a very effective therapy, however, for a lot of patients, they are put off by the invasive nature of having wires in the brain or a battery pack in their chest,” Dr. Wang said.
Focused ultrasound can treat the exact same area through a different, minimally invasive method. The goal of the treatment is that the shaking significantly improves quickly, leading to a better quality of life for the patient.
Swedish is the only institution in the state of Washington with this technology and one of the first hospitals in the nation to have it. Patients travel from all over the Pacific Northwest and West Coast for evaluation and treatment at Swedish.
“We take extra time to personalize everybody’s needs and tailor an individualized treatment plan for every patient,” Dr. Wang said.
To learn more about this innovative treatment, visit the Swedish Neuroscience Institute website.
Sponsored by Providence Swedish.
Segment Producer Suzie Wiley. Watch New Day Northwest at 11 a.m. weekdays on KING 5 and streaming live on KING5.com. Contact New Day.