Bradley Treeby and Tabish Saifee on the No Silver Bullet 4PD Webinar

Our CEO, Bradley Treeby, and Medical Director, Tabish Saifee, were the guests for a webinar hosted by No Silver Bullet 4PD, a community run by and for people living with Parkinson's. The hour-long session, hosted by Michel Planquart, is an accessible introduction to low-intensity focused ultrasound and includes questions from the audience.

The session covers:

• How it works. High-intensity focused ultrasound heats and destroys a small target in the brain. At low intensity, the same focused sound waves instead nudge the electrical activity of a circuit, which Brad compares to turning a dimmer switch. The approach is designed to be non-ablative, reversible and repeatable.
• Why we're starting with essential tremor. Tabish describes the gap between medication, which often fails or isn't tolerated, and advanced therapies such as deep brain stimulation, which reach only a small fraction of the people who might benefit.
• Personalised targeting. An MRI scan is used to map each person's anatomy and correct for the skull, which Brad describes as "kind of like prescription glasses" for the ultrasound.
• Parkinson's. Early studies from the wider field on bradykinesia and tremor, and the potential to address non-motor symptoms.
• Audience questions. Treatment duration and repeated sessions, long-term effects, access through outpatient clinics, and how outcomes are measured.

Both speakers stress that the research is at an early stage. Applications in Parkinson's are years away, not months, and each new use will need controlled clinical trials to show that it is safe and effective. Details of our current study in essential tremor are on the studies page.

You can also watch the recording on YouTube.