Functional neurosurgery is a varied field that involves ways to surgically improve your nervous system. It can include the use of devices implanted in your body to positively alter the way it functions.
MRI-Guided Focused Ultrasound (FUS): Using advanced technology, our neurosurgeons use high-intensity focused ultrasound energy, guided by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), to heat a small targeted area of tissue in the brain, which can reduce tremor. Only where the ultrasound waves converge is the target heated to cause a small ablation, which produces the therapeutic effect and improvement in hand tremor with immediate results. FUS is an incision-less treatment requiring no hospital stay. This treatment is available at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital.
Deep brain stimulation (DBS): This surgery treats severe cases of Parkinson's disease or epilepsy. Your surgeon places electrodes in areas of your brain that controls motor function. We also implant an impulse generator (IPG) under your collarbone. The device is similar to a pacemaker. It provides an electrical impulse to stimulate your brain's electrodes so you can better control your movements.
Vagus nerve stimulation: Using an implanted device to stimulate one of your vagus nerves, which run on both sides of your body from your brain to your abdomen, can help treat conditions such as epilepsy, depression, headaches and other pain.