Key Points
- Patients with treatment-resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) can now access focused ultrasound at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto.
- International patients must pay for their treatment and travel.
Patients from around the world who are living with treatment-resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) can now be seen at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Sunnybrook has been a leader in advancing noninvasive focused ultrasound technology. In fact, neurosurgeon Nir Lipsman, MD, PhD, performed North America’s very first OCD treatment using focused ultrasound in 2017 as part of a Foundation-funded clinical trial. Dr. Lipsman, who leads the Harquail Centre for Neuromodulation at Sunnybrook and is the Chief of the Hurvitz Brain Sciences Program, recently published the results from that study, indicating that the focused ultrasound capsulotomy was safe and effective in patients with OCD at one year after treatment.
Dr. Lipsman’s team continues to treat patients with treatment resistant OCD and to collect data to advance the field of focused ultrasound for psychiatric disorders.
Importantly, however, international patients are required to pay for their treatment, travel, and lodging, with portions of funding going to administer their universal patient program, to research studies, and to an access fund allowing patients to be treated who otherwise cannot afford it.
“Historically, research studies and trials at Sunnybrook were only open to Canadian citizens, so being able to open our site to a global population is an exciting milestone,” said Dr. Lipsman. “It not only provides many patients for whom other therapies haven’t worked access to focused ultrasound treatment, but it helps our team and the broader community gain knowledge and experience as we collect more clinical results for focused ultrasound in psychiatric conditions. We hope to expand this opportunity to other patient groups in the near future.”
For Patients
Sunnybrook has developed an efficient workflow to help determine whether patients are eligible for treatment. Of note, patients must be diagnosed with treatment-resistant OCD and be willing to undergo an MRI. If this is of interest to you and your psychiatrist, please contact:
Anusha Baskaran, PhD
Manager, Neuromodulation in Psychiatry
Harquail Centre for Neuromodulation
Tel: 416-480-6100 ext. 61650
anusha.baskaran@sunnybrook.ca
Patient Stories
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