MRI Interventions said the Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center in San Francisco has become the first VA hospital to offer MRI-guided asleep deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery to veterans suffering from Parkinson's disease.
The center performed its first asleep DBS procedure on October 25, using real-time MRI guidance and visualization with the company's ClearPoint neurological intervention system. VA clinicians planned, targeted, and confirmed results of the surgery, according to the firm. ClearPoint was installed in a 3-tesla MRI scanner at the hospital.
DBS therapy delivers electrical signals to specific locations within the brain to relieve some of the debilitating symptoms of Parkinson's disease, such as tremor. Using the ClearPoint system, a surgeon can locate and select a neurological target, aim the targeting device, and watch via MRI as the surgical instrument is advanced to the target location inside the patient's brain, the company said.
