Home Diseases and Conditions Anorexia Nervosa

Anorexia Nervosa

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Development Stage

Early Stage

Focused ultrasound research is in the laboratory phase and is not yet available for patients.

Clinical Trials

Focused ultrasound for this condition is being researched in clinical trials.

International Approval

Focused ultrasound is approved to treat this condition outside the US. Patients can seek commercial treatment at participating international sites.

FDA Approved

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved focus ultrasound for this condition. Patients can seek commercial treatment at participating sites.

Early Stage

Clinical Trials

International

FDA Approved

Focused ultrasound research for this condition is in the laboratory phase and is not yet available for patients.

Focused Ultrasound Therapy

Focused ultrasound is a noninvasive, therapeutic technology with the potential to improve the quality of life and decrease the cost of care for patients with anorexia. This novel technology focuses beams of ultrasound energy precisely and accurately on targets deep in the brain, known be involved in anorexia, without damaging surrounding normal tissue.

How it Works
Where the beams converge, focused ultrasound produces several therapeutic effects that are being evaluated: precise ablation (thermal destruction of tissue) and neuromodulation (altering the effects of neural impulses). Though still in the very early stages of development, for certain patients, these focused ultrasound techniques have potential to provide a noninvasive and more effective treatment for anorexia.

Advantages

  • Focused ultrasound can reach the desired target without damaging surrounding tissue.
  • As many patients are young, the noninvasive approach of focused ultrasound is an attractive feature.
  • It can be repeated, if necessary.

Clinical Trials

At the present time, there are no clinical trials recruiting patients for focused ultrasound treatment for anorexia.

The Foundation updates these pages regularly, but with the increasing number of clinical trials, we want to be sure that our audience has the latest information available. Therefore, we also added the website search information for the above trials. If you click here, it will take you to the latest information available from https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/

Regulatory Approval and Reimbursement 

Focused ultrasound treatment for anorexia is not yet approved by regulatory bodies or covered by medical insurance companies.

Notable Papers

The Focused Ultrasound Foundation Psychiatric Workshop Summary, October, 2017

Click here for additional references from PubMed.