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Conditions Treated
Our Approach to MR-Guided Focused Ultrasound
Magnetic resonance (MR)-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) is a noninvasive treatment that combines magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and sound waves (ultrasound) to target a specific area of your body. We use MRgFUS to treat many conditions, including essential tremor, Parkinson’s disease, prostate cancer, cancer that has spread to your bone (bone metastasis), and uterine fibroids.
Stanford Health Care doctors are world-renowned in image-guided procedures such as MRgFUS. Our neurosurgery and radiology teams work together to offer you the most effective and least invasive therapies to help improve your condition.
Our doctors have performed MR-guided focused ultrasound procedures since 2013. We continue to research the latest uses for this innovative treatment to bring you the highest level of care and optimize your outcome.
900 Blake Wilbur Drive
Palo Alto, CA 94304
Phone: 650-498-6148
What We Offer You With MR-Guided Focused Ultrasound
- Multispecialty team to advise you on the best treatment approach
- Internationally recognized specialists with extensive experience using noninvasive MRgFUS to successfully treat many conditions
- Active research into new uses of MRgFUS, including ongoing trials on Parkinson’s disease, prostate cancer, and bone metastases
- Designation as a Center of Excellence by the Focused Ultrasound Foundation in recognition of Stanford’s leadership in ultrasound research and treatments
What Is MR-Guided Focused Ultrasound?
Conditions Treated With MR-Guided Focused Ultrasound
Stanford can use MRgFUS to treat:
- Bone metastasis, when cancer has spread to your bone and often causes pain
- Desmoid tumors, abnormal noncancerous growths typically found in your abdomen, arms, and legs
- Essential tremor, involuntary trembling in one or more body parts, usually affecting your arms or hands
- Osteoid osteoma, noncancerous (benign) tumors that often form in your long bones, such as your shin (tibia) and femur (thigh) bones
- Parkinson’s dyskinesia, involuntary muscle movements that can be a side effect of medication for Parkinson’s disease
- Prostate cancer, cancerous (malignant) growths in your prostate gland
- Tremor-dominant Parkinson’s disease, when tremor is the main symptom of this progressive neurological condition
- Uterine fibroids, benign growths inside or on the outer surface of your uterus
- Vascular malformations, abnormal blood vessels in your brain or spine
What to Expect During MR-Guided Focused Ultrasound
We use MRI to guide and control the MRgFUS treatment, which we perform while you lie in an MR scanner. We use detailed images of the body area we’re targeting to pinpoint, direct, and continuously monitor your treatment.
Before
During
After
Before the Procedure
During your initial evaluation, you see a team of specialists who will determine if MRgFUS is the right treatment for you. We also discuss other treatment options that may be available to you.
Once we have explained all the risks associated with the device and the procedure, you may be scheduled for treatment.
The day of treatment
Before your MRgFUS procedure, we:
- Shave the skin over the target area.
- Give you compression stockings to wear during the procedure.
- Insert a tube (urinary catheter) to drain your bladder.
- Insert a plastic tube into a vein through your arm (intravenous catheter). The catheter gives you fluids and medications to dull your pain and make you comfortable.
We then position you on the table so you are comfortable and supported. We will monitor your heart rate, blood pressure, and blood oxygen levels throughout the procedure.
During the Procedure
We move you into the magnetic resonance (MR) device. We perform the MRgFUS procedure from a computer in the room adjoining the MR suite. Your doctor can see you through a window into the MR scanner room. Your doctor and a circulating nurse are close by to check on you and to give you medication.
We take a series of MR images to help plan the treatment. Your doctor marks the area to be treated. Then the MR device prepares the ultrasound beams to cover the targeted area. Your doctor reviews the plan and optimizes it for your treatment.
To start, the MR device delivers very low-strength ultrasound pulses to ensure that the MR and the ultrasound probe (transducer) are aligned properly. After that, your doctor adjusts the strength of the ultrasound beams as the transducer moves over the area marked for treatment.
Once the treatment is finished, we give you a contrast agent through an intravenous catheter. We obtain a final series of MR pictures to see how well the targeted area was treated.
After the Procedure
You move to a recovery room for observation for 1-2 hours. Once your sedation has worn off, we remove all the monitoring equipment and catheters. Your doctor will come by to evaluate you and to explain the post-treatment care you may need. Your doctor will let you know when you can go home, which is almost always the same day, and when you will need to return for a follow-up visit.
When to call your doctor
If you experience severe pain that doesn’t go away with the medication your doctor has prescribed for you, or you have a fever of 101°F or higher within 48 hours of treatment, call your doctor. We will give you a follow-up phone call the next day and schedule you for a post-treatment follow-up visit.
Before the Procedure
During your initial evaluation, you see a team of specialists who will determine if MRgFUS is the right treatment for you. We also discuss other treatment options that may be available to you.
Once we have explained all the risks associated with the device and the procedure, you may be scheduled for treatment.
The day of treatment
Before your MRgFUS procedure, we:
- Shave the skin over the target area.
- Give you compression stockings to wear during the procedure.
- Insert a tube (urinary catheter) to drain your bladder.
- Insert a plastic tube into a vein through your arm (intravenous catheter). The catheter gives you fluids and medications to dull your pain and make you comfortable.
We then position you on the table so you are comfortable and supported. We will monitor your heart rate, blood pressure, and blood oxygen levels throughout the procedure.
close Before
During the Procedure
We move you into the magnetic resonance (MR) device. We perform the MRgFUS procedure from a computer in the room adjoining the MR suite. Your doctor can see you through a window into the MR scanner room. Your doctor and a circulating nurse are close by to check on you and to give you medication.
We take a series of MR images to help plan the treatment. Your doctor marks the area to be treated. Then the MR device prepares the ultrasound beams to cover the targeted area. Your doctor reviews the plan and optimizes it for your treatment.
To start, the MR device delivers very low-strength ultrasound pulses to ensure that the MR and the ultrasound probe (transducer) are aligned properly. After that, your doctor adjusts the strength of the ultrasound beams as the transducer moves over the area marked for treatment.
Once the treatment is finished, we give you a contrast agent through an intravenous catheter. We obtain a final series of MR pictures to see how well the targeted area was treated.
close During
After the Procedure
You move to a recovery room for observation for 1-2 hours. Once your sedation has worn off, we remove all the monitoring equipment and catheters. Your doctor will come by to evaluate you and to explain the post-treatment care you may need. Your doctor will let you know when you can go home, which is almost always the same day, and when you will need to return for a follow-up visit.
When to call your doctor
If you experience severe pain that doesn’t go away with the medication your doctor has prescribed for you, or you have a fever of 101°F or higher within 48 hours of treatment, call your doctor. We will give you a follow-up phone call the next day and schedule you for a post-treatment follow-up visit.
close After
To schedule an appointment, please call 650-498-6148.