Israeli Noninvasive Surgery Heals Chronic Tremor

This past November, medical history was made at Rambam Health Care Campus, when an Israeli essential-tremor patient successfully underwent targeted surgical ablation of deep-seated brain tissue through an intact skull, a radical therapy made possible by the marriage of MRI-guidance and ultrasound-ablation technologies.

Sami Zangi, 73, was suffering from essential tremor, a slowly progressive movement disorder whose cause lies deep within the brain. After MRI-guided Focused Ultrasound Surgery (FUS) at Rambam Hospital, Mr. Zangi got up from the MRI table tremor-free, smiled, and requested paper and a pen. "Remember what I tried to tell you a week ago?" he asked. Surrounded by his wife and family, he wrote in a steady and beautiful hand, "If you will it, it is no dream."

This one's for you, Theodor Herzl!