High-intensity focused ultrasound in functional neurosurgery

Abstract

Stereotactic functional neurosurgical interventions for basal gangliaare an important method for treating movement, pain, obsessivecompulsive and depressive disorders. These interventionsinclude destructive surgeries and deep brain stimulation throughimplanted electrodes. Destructive surgeries have a number ofserious limitations, since they are associated with a higher riskof complications, especially in case of bilateral interventions. High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is a novel noninvasiveapproach proposed for destruction of a certain target pointin the brain. We discuss the technical foundations of HIFU,thoroughly analyze the advantages and drawbacks of the methodcompared to other methods of modern functional neurosurgery,and summarize the first results of using HIFU in the worldsleading clinics. Further accumulation of experience is neededto perform a weighted analysis of the potential of HIFU and toassess the long-term effects of the interventions performed andthe role of this procedure in the algorithms for treating variousnervous system diseases.

Keywords

• high-intensity focused ultrasound
• functional neurosurgery
• destructive surgeries
• deep brain stimulation