The Foundation’s Brain Clinical Program has selected a new project to fund in the fourth quarter of 2020. Shiro Horisawa, MD, will use focused ultrasound to treat patients with cervical dystonia, a painful condition in which neck muscles contract uncontrollably. There is currently no cure for this debilitating condition.
Dr. Horisawa, a movement disorders specialist at Toyko Women’s Medical University, will lead a study titled, “A pilot trial of safety and effectiveness of Magnetic Resonance-guided Focused Ultrasound (MRgFUS) Ablation of the pallidothalamic tract for the Treatment of Cervical Dystonia.” This 10-patient clinical trial is a prospective, single arm study to evaluate the safety and initial effectiveness of using the Insightec ExAblate Neuro focused ultrasound system to create a pallidothalamic tractotomy, which interrupts the brain signals believed to be responsible for cervical dystonia.Learn More About the Foundation’s Grant Programs >