Looking for new science and technology breakthrough? Here it is. It is now official that nine patients have successfully undergone ultrasound brain surgery. This was considered science fiction some time ago but now it’s possible!

 

As reported by the MIT technology review, this procedure is very safe, precise and accurate. They say doctors can make lesions in a patient’s brain without injuring both the skin and skull. This new and modern procedure was performed on 9 patients who experienced chronic pain that was debilitating. Traditionally the method that was employed was destruction of a tiny part of the thalamus (a part of the brain).

This part has the function of relaying messages between different parts of the brain. Some time ago this was done by the use of radio frequency ablation. This technique involved insertion of a probe into the patient’s skull. But with this new revolutionary technique ,brain surgeons say that it will be faster and have a higher degree of precision than any other procedures being used today.

 

This advance technology involves focusing beams (ultrasound) to a certain part of the human brain that is being treated. When this tiny area of the brain is bombarded with these focused beams, it gets heated up by absorption of the beams which results in killing of the specific cells. the temperature produced by these beams at the area  usually reaches around 1300 F. Incorporating this with the magnetic resonance scanner aids the surgeons to have a clear target of part being operated on.

 

The rise of temperature at the area being operated on can be monitored by the use of real time thermal imaging.

 

This can be compared to a method seen on the star trek movie where Dr. McCoy used to perform surgical procedures on patients using a special device without cutting them. He couldn’t let 20th century doctors handle Pavel Chekov (one of his crew members) with their “crude knives”.

 

Due to advancement in the technology today, some of the devices used in star trek have come to realty. One example is the use of laser to join tissues rather than the traditional sewing by thread. It is no wonder to find some hospitals have highly advanced bed monitoring system which can be compared to the beds in Star Trek’s sickbay.

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