Orange Coast Medical Center Offers New Treatment for Tremor

Fountain Valley, CA – MemorialCare Orange Coast Medical Center has announced it is the first hospital in Orange County and just the second hospital in Southern California to offer a new, incisionless treatment for essential tremor of the dominant hand and tremor-dominant Parkinson’s Disease (PD). The FDA-approved treatment, referred to as “Neuravive,” uses focused ultrasound guided by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to treat deep within the brain with no surgical incision, implants, or radiation.

Neuravive uses sound energy to target and precisely treat a small spot in the thalamus, considered to be responsible for causing the tremor. The procedure is performed on an outpatient basis. The result for many patients is a shorter recovery time and immediate improvement in their dominant hand tremor with minimal complications reported. MR-guided Focused Ultrasound is performed by trained physicians using Exablate Neuro, a focused ultrasound platform developed by global medical technology innovator, INSIGHTEC.

We are extremely excited to offer Neuravive to our patients suffering from debilitating tremor,” said Devin Binder, MD, PhD, lead neurosurgeon for the MR-guided Focused Ultrasound Program at Orange Coast Medical Center. “This non-invasive technology gives our patients another treatment option as they decide with their physician the most effective course of action to help them return to a more independent and active lifestyle.”

Essential tremor is the most common movement disorder, affecting millions of people worldwide. It typically involves tremor of the hands during movement such as eating and writing. Tremor-dominant PD is accompanied by tremor, rigidity, slowness of movement and postural instability. For an estimated 26 percent of PD patients, tremor is the primary symptom with the most severe impact on daily activities.

Prior to Neuravive MR-guided Focused Ultrasound, the main treatment options for essential tremor were either the use of medications such as beta blockers or minimally invasive surgical approaches such as deep brain stimulation. Exablate Neuro is the first focused ultrasound device approved by the FDA to treat patients with essential tremor and tremor-dominant PD that have not responded to medications.

For more information about the MR-guided Focused Ultrasound Program at Orange Coast Medical Center, please call (800) 758-5817, email OrangeCoastTremor@insightec.com, or visit memorialcare.org/OCTremorTreatment.