REGAIN CONTROL: Focused Ultrasound for a Tremor-Free Tomorrow

UHS is pleased to offer virtual health visits for your initial screening and consultation, as well as your post-procedure follow-up two to four weeks following your treatment. You will need to be in person in Vestal, NY for the day of the actual Focused Ultrasound procedure.

No, there is no upper age limit for the procedure, but you must be at least 22 years old. There are patients over the age of 90 that have been successfully treated. As long as you meet the eligibility requirements, are able to be in an MRI scanner, can communicate and have essential tremor or tremor dominant Parkinson’s disease, then you are eligible for this procedure.

This treatment is covered by both Medicare and New York State Medicaid. While most commercial insurers cover it, if you have a specific question about your own insurance, feel free to contact us at 607-763-5404 or TremorTreatment@nyuhs.org and we will be happy to get an answer for your specific insurance question.

If this is your first side being treated, and you have tremor symptoms on the second side, you may want to stay on your medication because of the second side. After the second side procedure is performed, we will coordinate your care with you and your prescribing physician to discontinue your tremor medications.

Yes, if you are on any blood thinners, please discuss this with us beforehand. We will tell you when you need to stop them before the procedure, depending on what the medication is and why you are taking it. They will need to be held between two and seven days before the procedure. You can usually restart them within 48 hours following the procedure.

Yes, you do. That is something we will discuss with you more at your consultation visit. We will need you to stop your tremor medication approximately two to three days before the procedure so we can see the full effect of your tremor on treatment day.  This is how we know that we are delivering the sound waves to the right spot and that we are getting the tremor relief we want.

That depends on the specific make and model of the device and the manufacturer’s approval for MRI safety. If you have a device, please let us know and we will research whether that device is MRI compatible. If it’s not MRI compatible, you would not be eligible for Focused Ultrasound. If it is MRI compatible, there is no problem with having an implantable device.

Unfortunately, we cannot give you any sedation on the day of the procedure because we need and want you fully awake and alert so that you can tell us and show us if the tremor is getting better and so that you can let us know if you are having any numbness or tingling or other side effects so we can adjust our treatment. However, we can try to make it as easy and as comfortable as possible. There are times when you will need to be inside the magnet bore to get actual pictures or for the sonication itself. There is also quite a bit of time where we can slide you out of the bore, allowing you to be outside the magnet. You will not have to be in the MRI machine the entire time, especially during the planning and testing.