AdventHealth Study Exploring the Use of MR-Guided Focused Ultrasound (MRgFUS) to Disrupt the Blood-Brain Barrier for Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease

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  • AdventHealth Research Institute
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“We've known that Alzheimer's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder where there is a build-up of amyloid plaques and Tau neurofibrillary tangles in the brain, but we’ve been learning more in recent years. We now know there is also inflammation happening in the brain of patients with Alzheimer’s and that there is a potential immune response in the brain that is causing that inflammation and contributing to the brain’s degeneration and atrophy. Through the Exablate BBBD study, we’re exploring whether allowing the blood-brain barrier to be open for 24 to 48 hours could safely enable the patient’s innate immune system to better recognize and attack the plaques, tangles and inflammation.” – Valeria Baldivieso, MD, Medical Director of Memory Care, AdventHealth Central Florida

Under the leadership of Dr. Valeria Baldivieso and Dr. Chandan Reddy, the AdventHealth Research Institute is the first and only site in Orlando offering the Exablate Blood-Brain Barrier (BBB) Disruption for the Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease clinical trial (NCT03671889). Exablate uses magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS), a minimally invasive treatment where ultrasound waves pass through the skull and brain tissues to precisely heat and ablate a deep brain target while magnetic resonance (MR) imaging allows for treatment monitoring.

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