Non-invasive brain surgery proves successful

Not many patients can imagine having a glass of champagne with their surgeons straight after brain surgery but that is exactly what is happening at a Zurich hospital.
Swiss doctors have successfully carried out the world's first non-invasive brain surgery with use of high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU). Ten adult patients, who were awake during the revolutionary painless procedure, have been treated at University Children's Hospital Zurich since September 2008 as part of a clinical study. The results were published this week.
All interventions were completed successfully and without complications under the direction of professors Daniel Jeanmonod and Ernst Martin.
"This fully non-invasive procedure opens new horizons for neurosurgery and the treatment of different neurological brain disorders," Ernst Martin, director of the hospital's Magnetic Resonance Centre told swissinfo.ch. The list of diseases and conditions which could be treated with this safe and effective technique includes Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, epilepsy, brain tumour and stroke.

Martin and Jeanmonod have been working on patients with neuropathic pain due to functional brain disorders. Specifically, they are people who experienced pain in amputated or paralysed parts of the body.
"The origin of the pain does not exist anymore but the brain projects the pain so that is why we operate on the brain," Martin explained. The patients have all remained pain-free since their operations.
HIFU has been used for some years in the treatment of uterine fibroids and tumours of the prostate gland. The ultrasound beams heat up the problem area, creating a lesion and rendering it inactive.
This is the first time that the technique has been applied to the brain through the intact skull for non-invasive neurosurgery. Read more @ Swissinfo