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Updated: Feb 4, 2026

MRI-guided Focused Ultrasound Thalamotomy for Patients with Medically-refractory Essential Tremor
Published on: December 13, 2017
Objective tremor monitoring using tri-axis accelerometer in MRgFUS thalamotomy for essential tremor: a feasibility
Kai-Chun Liu1, Antonella Macerollo2,3, Hoon-Ming Heng4,5,6,7
1College of Information and Computer Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, USA.
Background:
Magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) thalamotomy has shown promising results in treating pharmaco-resistant essential tremor (ET). This incisionless, image-guided technique targets the ventralis intermedius nucleus of the thalamus with precision, sparing surrounding eloquent tissue.Objective: This study aims to assess the efficacy of MRgFUS thalamotomy in improving tremor among ET patients, as objectively measured by a tri-axis accelerometer, and to compare these objective measures with the conventional Clinical Rating Scale for Tremor (CRST).Design: Prospective observational study.
Methods:
Ten ET patients (aged 68.1 ± 11.8 years) received the MRgFUS treatment. Improvements in tremor severity were assessed using primary (CRST), with additional measurements of kinematic feature obtained from a tri-axis accelerometer. Correlations between accelerometer-derived kinematic features and CRST scores were evaluated.
Results:
Significant improvement in tremor severity was observed in the cohort, as measured by both the accelerometer and CRST (paired Student's t test, p < 0.05) before and 1 day after the treatment. A moderate-to-strong correlation was found between accelerometer measurements and CRST scores.
Conclusion:
The tri-axis accelerometer provides an effective means of monitoring tremor reduction following MRgFUS and correlated well to the clinical scales like CRST. This study supports the feasibility of accelerometer-based monitoring in clinical practice for MRgFUS assessment.
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