By Mitchell Liester and Bertrand Liang
Depression affects millions of people globally, with pharmacologic therapy a mainstay of treatment. Treatments have also included procedures, such as electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), and more recently deep brain stimulation (DBS) with implanted electrodes. One challenge associated with the use of such treatments is that to access some of the deeper brain structures to treat depression, there is the requirement for neurosurgical intervention. However, recent data from the University of Utah has demonstrated that using sound waves via ultrasound guided by MRI scanning, was able to treat depression noninvasively, with results as quickly as 24 hours after stimulation.
Studies have shown a particular part of the brain, the cingulate gyrus, which is in the middle part of the brain, has been associated with severe forms of depression. Experiments have been done that demonstrate stimulation of this area, using surgically implanted electrodes, can treat some cases. The University of Utah group hypothesized utilizing low-intensity sound waves might be able to emulate this deep brain stimulation, allowing a noninvasive treatment to mimic the findings with DBS.
Significant work has been done to evaluate areas of the brain associated with depression. While pharmacologic therapy has been successful in treating many forms of depression, the use of new approaches is required to both decrease side effects and to treat more refractory cases. Indeed, there has been significant work evaluating the different areas of the brain that might be targets for DBS to treat depression. Areas including the........