Open AccessTechnical Principles and Clinical Workflow of Transcranial MR-Guided Focused Ultrasound
Author(s) -
Ying Meng,
Ryan M. Jones,
Benjamin Davidson,
Yuexi Huang,
Christopher B Pople,
Shanan Surendrakumar,
Clement Hamani,
Kullervo Hynynen,
Nir Lipsman
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
stereotactic and functional neurosurgery
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.798
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1423-0372
pISSN - 1011-6125
DOI - 10.1159/000512111
Subject(s) - transcranial doppler , workflow , medicine , essential tremor , focused ultrasound , brain function , medical physics , neuroscience , ultrasound , computer science , physical medicine and rehabilitation , radiology , psychology , database
Transcranial MR-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) is a rapidly developing technology in neuroscience for manipulating brain structure and function without open surgery. The effectiveness of transcranial MRgFUS for thermoablation is well established, and the technique is actively employed worldwide for movement disorders including essential tremor. A growing number of centers are also investigating the potential of microbubble-mediated focused ultrasound-induced opening of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) for targeted drug delivery to the brain. Here, we provide a technical overview of the principles, clinical workflow, and operator considerations of transcranial MRgFUS procedures for both thermoablation and BBB opening.