MRgFUS Pallidothalamic Tractotomy for Therapy-Resistant Parkinson's Disease

To investigate the neural mechanism of Magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) Pallidothalamic Tractotomy in Parkinson's disease through multi-model MRI, and identify imaging biomarkers for triaging candidates and predicting the clinical outcomes. Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most progressive neurodegenerative disease with many motor and non-motor symptoms, which brings heavy burden to the family and the society. MRgFUS pallidothalamic tractotomy allows to address all symptoms of PD without skull opening and with very limited tissue ablation, but with varying effectiveness. The unknown pathogenesis of PD has greatly contributed to this variance. Therefore, in order to optimize the clinical application of MRgFUS pallidothalamic tractotomy, it is important to reveal the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease by using multiple modality MRI methods, and identify imaging biomarkers to triage suitable candidates and predict clinical outcomes.