{"id":8703,"date":"2022-05-26T00:54:16","date_gmt":"2022-05-26T04:54:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fusfoundation.org\/?post_type=sw_disease_condition&#038;p=8703"},"modified":"2025-09-22T09:39:19","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T13:39:19","slug":"ataxia","status":"publish","type":"sw_disease_condition","link":"https:\/\/www.fusfoundation.org\/diseases-and-conditions\/ataxia\/","title":{"rendered":"Ataxia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-focused-ultrasound-therapy\">Focused Ultrasound Therapy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Focused ultrasound is a noninvasive, therapeutic technology with the potential to improve the quality of life and decrease the cost of care for patients with ataxia. This novel technology focuses beams of ultrasound energy precisely and accurately on targets deep in the body without damaging surrounding normal tissue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How it Works<\/strong><br>Where the beams converge, focused ultrasound produces thermal ablation that destroys the targeted tissue causing ataxia. Many of the patients with ataxia have a genetic component, and can have additional names to their disease (Fragile X, spinocerebellar ataxia, etc.) This treatment has been accomplished successfully in a several cases, however more work needs to be done before this is widely available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The conventional treatment for ataxia is supportive, with physical therapy and occupational therapy being the main items.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For certain patients, focused ultrasound could provide a more effective alternative to patients with this disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Advantages<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Focused ultrasound is non-invasive, so it does not carry added concerns like surgical wound healing or infection.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Focused ultrasound can reach the desired target without damaging surrounding tissue.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It can be repeated, if necessary.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-clinical-trials\">Clinical Trials<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>At the present time, there are no clinical trials recruiting patients for focused ultrasound treatment of ataxia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Foundation updates these pages regularly, but with the increasing number of clinical trials, we want to be sure that our audience has the latest information available. Therefore, we also added the website search information for the above trials. If you click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.clinicaltrials.gov\/search?cond=Ataxia&amp;term=focused%20ultrasound&amp;aggFilters=status:not%20rec\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>here<\/strong><\/a>, it will take you to the latest information available from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.clinicaltrials.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>https:\/\/www.clinicaltrials.gov\/<\/strong><\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-regulatory-approval-and-reimbursement\">Regulatory Approval and Reimbursement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Focused ultrasound treatment for ataxia is not yet approved by regulatory bodies or covered by medical insurance companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-notable-papers\">Notable Papers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Martin E, Roberts M, Grigoras IF, Wright O, Nandi T, Rieger SW, Campbell J, den Boer T, Cox BT, Stagg CJ, Treeby BE. <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/40913042\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Ultrasound\u202fsystem\u202ffor\u202fprecise\u202fneuromodulation\u202fof\u202fhuman\u202fdeep\u202fbrain\u202fcircuits<\/strong><\/a>. Nat Commun. 2025 Sep 5;16(1):8024. doi: 10.1038\/s41467-025-63020-1. PMID:\u202f40913042\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Di Luca DG, Ushe M, Norris SA, Alfradique-Dunham I, Glasser M, Nazeri A, Kotzbauer P, Willie JT. <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/40156371\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Long-Term\u202fOutcome\u202fof\u202fUnilateral\u202fMagnetic\u202fResonance\u202fImaging-Guided\u202fFocused\u202fUltrasound\u202ffor Fragile X Tremor Ataxia Syndrome<\/strong><\/a>. Mov Disord Clin Pract. 2025 Mar 29. doi: 10.1002\/mdc3.70068. Online ahead of print. PMID:\u202f40156371\u202f&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Purrer V, Upadhyay N, Pieper CC, Klockgether T, Boecker H, W\u00fcllner U, Borger V. <a aria-label=\". Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Guided Focused Ultrasound Thalamotomy in Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 12.  (opens in a new tab)\" class=\"ek-link\" href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/35050531\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Guided Focused Ultrasound Thalamotomy in Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 12<\/strong><\/a>. Mov Disord. 2022 Apr;37(4):872-873. doi: 10.1002\/mds.28918. Epub 2022 Jan 20. PMID: 35050531<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fasano A, Sammartino F, Llinas M, Lozano AM. <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/27440151\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>MRI-guided focused ultrasound thalamotomy in fragile X-associated tremor\/ataxia syndrome<\/strong><\/a>. Neurology. 2016 Aug 16;87(7):736-8. doi: 10.1212\/WNL.0000000000002982. Epub 2016 Jul 20. PMID:\u202f27440151\u202f&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a aria-label=\"Click here (opens in a new tab)\" class=\"ek-link\" href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/?term=%28%22focused+ultrasound%22+OR+HIFU%29+and+%22Ataxia%22&amp;sort=date\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Click here<\/a> for additional references from PubMed.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":1,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"footnotes":""},"sw_disease_condition_cat":[6],"sw_disease_condition_stage":[20],"class_list":["post-8703","sw_disease_condition","type-sw_disease_condition","status-publish","hentry","sw_disease_condition_cat-neurological"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.2 (Yoast SEO v27.2) - 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