Overview

• Dr. Ali Rezai, a neurosurgeon at the Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, is pioneering the use of ultrasound in treating Alzheimer's disease and drug addiction.
• In an experimental procedure, Dr. Rezai uses ultrasound to open the blood-brain barrier, allowing therapeutic drugs to quickly reach the brain and reduce beta-amyloid plaques, a key factor in Alzheimer's disease.
• Initial results show that beta-amyloid plaques targeted with ultrasound were reduced 50% more than areas treated by infusion alone.
• Dr. Rezai is also using ultrasound to target the nucleus accumbens, the reward center of the brain, in patients with severe drug addiction.
• Of the 15 patients in the ultrasound clinical trials for drug addiction, 10 have remained completely drug free.