Key Points
- ASSFN was held June 1–4, 2024, in Nashville.
- A presentation in a special course, a plenary session, five oral presentations, and 13 posters included focused ultrasound.
The American Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery (ASSFN) held its biennial meeting June 1–4, 2024, in Nashville, TN. Specialists in stereotactic and functional neurosurgery, including clinicians, researchers, and industry partners, attend ASSFN to share the latest innovations and practice updates. The 2024 meeting emphasized the evolution of clinical practice toward advanced technologies like focused ultrasound.
Ausaf Bari, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of California–Los Angeles School of Medicine, attended ASSFN. He commented, “The work of our colleagues showcased at this year’s ASSFN highlights advancements in focused ultrasound technology for treating movement disorders, psychiatric conditions, pain, and epilepsy. These scientific and clinical advancements in focused ultrasound promise to push the frontiers of functional neurosurgery, heralding an exciting era of therapeutic possibilities and hope for our patients.”
Focused Ultrasound Presentations
One presentation in a special course, one plenary session, five oral presentations, and 13 posters included focused ultrasound. Each of these is listed below:
Special Course on Movement Disorder Surgery Fundamentals and Challenges (1)
- Focused Ultrasound vs. DBS: When, Why, Who by Rees Cosgrove and Peter Konrad
Unlocking the Brain Plenary Session (1)
- Development and Future Directions of Focused Ultrasound by Kullervo Hynynen
The Evolution of Movement Disorder Surgery (3)
- Bilateral FUS vs. DBS for Tremor by Kara Beasley
- Optimal Focused Ultrasound Lesion Location in Essential Tremor by Melissa Ming Jie Chua; Alfredo Morales Pinzon; Clemens Neudorfer; Patrick Ray Ng; Sarah Blitz; Garance Meyer; Konstantin Butenko; Till Dembek; Fardad Behzadi; Nathan McDannold; John Rolston; Charles R.G. Guttmann; Michael Fox; Garth Cosgrove; Andreas Horn
- Focused Ultrasound Pallidothalamic Tractotomy for Cervical Dystonia by Shiro Horisawa; Takaomi Taira
The Evolution of Psychiatric Neuromodulation (1)
- Structural, Connectivity, and Metabolic Changes Following Magnetic Resonance Guided Focused Ultrasound Capsulotomy by Benjamin Andrew Davidson; Lyndon Boone; Karim Mithani; Clement Hamani; Peter Giacobbe; Sean Nestor; Ying Meng; Jennifer Rabin; Maged Goubran; Nir Lipsman
The Evolution of Epilepsy Surgery (1)
- FUS as a Novel Tool for Epilepsy by Vibhor Krishna
Poster Session (13)
- 103. Preoperative Tremor Severity and Operative Parameters Predict Imbalance in Patients Undergoing Focused Ultrasound by Rohan Jha; Melissa Ming Jie Chua; Aryan Wadhwa; John David Rolston
- 128. Frailty and Outcomes after Unilateral MRgFUS Thalamotomy for Tremor by Nathan Pertsch; Kazuki Sakakura; Dustin Kim; Julia Mueller; Jacob Mazza; Daniel Wolfson; Ryan Matthew Kelly; John Pearce; Shama Patel; Sepehr Sani
- 132. Characterizing Differential Tremor Sweetspots and Side Effect Sourspots Following Thalamic High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound through Probabilistic Lesion Mapping by Min Jae Kim; Liming Qiu; Gustavo Campos; Maya Alexis; Daniel Barbosa; Iahn Cajigas; Casey H. Halpern
- 138. Relationship Between Accumulated Thermal Dose and Early Tremor Improvement with MRgFUS by Tarannum Rahnuma; Samuel Pichardo; G. Bruce Pike; Davide Martino; Camila Aquino; Marisol Ardila; Zelma HT Kiss; Fady Girgis
- 157. Low-Intensity Focused Ultrasound of the Subthalamic Nucleus May Alter Cognitive and Motor Behaviour: Preliminary Results by Terra Fairbanks; Hrishikesh Raghuram; Alan Coreas; Milad Naghizadeh; Shirshak Shrestha; Siyun Li; Julia Kam; G. Bruce Pike; Samuel Pichardo; Fady Girgis
- 172. Digital Phenotyping of Patients Undergoing Focused Ultrasound Thalamotomy for Essential Tremor by Jakob Gerstl; Gustaf von Grothusen; David J. Segar; Philip Mattisson; Joshua D. Bernstock; Melissa Ming Jie Chua; Sarah Christie; Hassan Y. Dawood; Patrick Emedom-Nnai; Jukka-Pekka Onnela; Timothy R. Smith; John David Rolston; G. Rees Cosgrove
- 179. Investigation of Gustatory Pathways Using Probablistic Tractography: Implications for MR-guided Focused Ultrasound by Kazuki Sakakura; Alireza Borghei; Nicholas Rubert; Nathan J. Pertsch; Sepehr Sani
- 180. MR Guided Focused Ultrasound using VIM and VOP/A Dual-lesions for the Treatment of Tremor Dominant Parkinsons Disease: Outcomes in Six Treated Cases by Nathan Pertsch; Kazuki Sakakura; Julia Mueller; Dustin Kim; John Pearce; Jacob Mazza; Shama Patel; Sepehr Sani
- 186. Successful Magnetic Resonance-Guided Focused Ultrasound Treatment of Tremor in Patients with a Skull Density Ratio of 0.4 or Less by Artur Vetkas; Alexandre Boutet; Can Sarica; Jurgen Germann; Brendan Santyr; Suneil Kumar Kalia; Andres M. Lozano
- 242. Symmetry Analysis of Lesion Locations After Bilateral Focused Ultrasound Thalamotomies by Can Sarica; Kazuaki Yamamoto; Jurgen Germann; Michael Colditz; Andrew Yang; Artur Vetkas; Brendan Santyr; Nardin Samuel; Ghazaleh Darmani; Benjamin Davidson; Cletus Cheyuo; Oliver Flouty; Ajmal Zemmar; Vanessa Christine Milano; Alexandre Boutet; Mojgan Hodaie; Suneil Kumar Kalia; Christian Iorio-Morin; Andres M. Lozano
- 252. A Randomized, Sham-Controlled Trial of Globus Pallidus Focused Ultrasound Ablation for Parkinson’s Disease by Vibhor Krishna; Paul Fishman; Howard Eisenberg; Michael Gordon Kaplitt; Gordon H. Baltuch; Jin Woo Chang; Chang Weichieh; Raúl Martínez-Fernández; Marta del Álamo; Casey H. Halpern; Pejman Ghanouni; Roberto Eleopra; Garth Cosgrove; Jorge Guridi; Ryder P. Gwinn; Pravin Khemani; Andres M. Lozano; Nathan McDannold; Alfonso Fasano; Marius Constantinescu; I. Schles; Arif Dalvi; Jeff Elias
- 277. Focused Ultrasound Treatment: Understanding the Perspective of Neurologists and Essential Tremor Patients by Katie Gant; Patrick O’Neal; Cyril J. Ferrer; Augusto Grinspan
- 337. Feasibility of Magnetic Resonance-Guided Focused Ultrasound Thalamotomy for Essential Tremor Patients with Low Skull Density Ratio by Sarah Blitz; Patrick Ray Ng; Melissa Ming Jie Chua; David J. Segar; G. Rees Cosgrove
Industry Participation
Insightec participated as an exhibitor and hosted a non-CME sponsored breakfast session titled: SUMMIT E, the Silent, Unmet Need in Movement Disorders; Advancements in Focused Ultrasound—Exablate® Prime. Stephen Harward II and Ahmed Raslan were presenters.
Rebrain participated as an exhibitor.
Next Meeting
The next ASSFN biennial meeting will be held May 30– June 2, 2026, in Cleveland, Ohio.
The Foundation thanks Dr. Ausaf Bari for assistance with this meeting report.