Embracing Innovation: Adapting to New Surgical Technologies"

• Admin
• Jan 03, 2024

However, when I saw the magic of focused ultrasound showing immediate relief of tremors following a real-time thalamotomy under magnetic resonance imaging guidance, I knew the field would never be the same. I then embraced this new technology, as Dr. Grady would have insisted. I was privileged to continue to lead this program at Stanford during my time there and work with terrific colleagues such as Pejman Ghanouni, MD, PhD; Jaimie M. Henderson, MD, FAANS; Kim Butts-Pauly, PhD and an international team of experts to get this treatment FDA-approved.

Now, we are using this method to treat Parkinson’s disease and contralateral tremors. We have even applied this incredible technology to temporal lobe epilepsy and hypothalamic hamartoma, though much work is needed to develop these indications. Patients travel to my clinic from far and wide for this therapy, and the outcomes speak for themselves.

Deep brain stimulation remains commonplace in my practice, but offering treatment options is key to program-building and patient care. I liken this optionality to brain aneurysm management. There was a time when neurosurgery could have lost control of this space due to interventional radiology’s offering of incisionless coil procedures. However, the sub-specialty of endovascular neurosurgery was created, and our necessary role in both the angiography suite and operating room was solidified. Stereotactic and functional neurosurgeons must embrace ablation techniques using focused ultrasound in much the same way. Patients want options, and finally they have them.