Our Therapeutic Offer

Chronic functional brain disorders comprise neurogenic pain, movement disorders, tinnitus, epilepsies and neuropsychiatric disorders. Around 8-10% of the human population suffers from one of these disorders, slight to severe in intensity, and 3-5% of them from a severe and therapy-resistant form, which might require an intervention.

  • Neurogenic (or neuropathic) pain: all pain situations with as a cause a damage of the nerves or pain centres in the spinal cord or in the brain: phantom limb pain (after amputation), nerve compressions or sections, polyneuropathies, plexus avulsions, paraplegic pain, pain after brain infarct (thalamic syndrome), trigeminal neuralgia, postherpetic pain (after zona infection), pain after lumbar disc operations, etc.
  • Movement disorders: Parkinson’s disease, tremors, dystonia, myoclonus.
  • Tinnitus: after damage to the auditory nerve.
  • Epilepsies: focal (temporal, frontal, parietal or occipital) and multifocal forms.
  • Neuropsychiatric disorders: obsessive-compulsive, anxiety, depressive, psychotic and manic-depressive disorders.

An operative indication only exists when chronicity (more than a year) and therapy-resistance (non-response to recognized non-invasive methods, particularly drugs) have been established.

For patients who need a surgical help, we provide a multifacetted approach with clinical, neuroscientific, technological and psychological dimensions.

We base our treatment on a scientifically well established understanding of the physiopathological mechanism of the functional brain disorders to be treated (for details, see Brain Rhythm and Brain Storm). To assess non-invasively the brain activity of our patients before and after treatment, we use electroencephalography (EEG). Their brain anatomy is examined by high resolution 3-Tesla magnetic resonance (MR) imaging.

Our multidisciplinary team consists of specialists in the fields of neurosurgery, neurology, rheumatology, radiology and psychiatry/psychology. This team work allows an optimal coverage and comprehensive assessment of the patient’s disease condition but also of her/his cognition, emotionality, suffering and quality of life.

We apply a selective retuning and sparing therapeutic concept (for details, see Brain Tune), which has been developed during the last 20 years. The interventions at the time on the same targets as treated today but using radiofrequency have given a good up to complete symptom reduction to an average of 60% of the patients. The results with focused ultrasound are at least as good as, possibly even better than the ones obtained with radiofrequency.

We offer the treatment option of the non-invasive transcranial MR-guided high-energy focused ultrasound (FUS) technique. This technique allows high-precision therapeutic heating of the target tissue and a most significant reduction of the interventional risks. This is made possible thanks to 1) the application of the ultrasound energy through skin and bone, i.e. without mechanical penetration of the skull and brain, and 2) the continuous control of the performed therapeutic heating of the chosen target tissue thanks to MR-thermometry (for details, see Brain Sound).

We integrate in the treatment program the human psychoemotional dimension (for details, see Brain Peace), which is highly relevant in the field of functional brain disorders.