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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., July 15, 2025 – Corewell Health™ has performed the first incisionless brain procedure for patients with essential tremor or tremor-dominant Parkinson’s disease. The procedure, known as focused ultrasound (FUS), uses sound waves to pinpoint areas of the brain believed to be responsible for the tremor.

Corewell Health Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids is the first hospital in the state to offer this treatment, which was approved by the FDA in 2016 and has proven to be effective in alleviating hand tremors. An estimated 223,000 people in Michigan are living with essential tremor, and thousands of others with tremor-dominant Parkinson’s disease.

The innovative procedure is performed in a single session and without any surgical incisions. Using the Insightec Exablate Neuro platform, surgeons are guided by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to create tiny lesions deep in the brain, which stop the signals causing the tremor. The treatment often results in immediate improvement and minimal complications for patients who have long endured debilitating hand tremors.

“Focused ultrasound is transforming the lives of people living with medication-resistant essential tremor or tremor-dominant Parkinson’s disease,” said Luyuan Li, M.D., Corewell Health neurosurgeon. “This is an outpatient procedure and only takes 1-2 hours. Patients often see improvement of their tremor during the treatment, before they even go home.”

The platform was installed in late April. The first two procedures took place May 14 with both patients seeing immediate and dramatic improvement. To learn more or schedule an appointment, patients and caregivers may email fusinfo@corewellhealth.org or call 616.391.6990.

About Corewell Health™ 

People are at the heart of everything we do, and the inspiration for our legacy of outstanding outcomes, innovation, strong community partnerships, philanthropy and transparency. Corewell Health is a not-for-profit health system that provides health care and coverage with an exceptional team of 65,000+ dedicated people—including more than 12,000 physicians and advanced practice providers and more than 16,000 nurses providing care and services in 21 hospitals, 300+ outpatient locations and several post-acute facilities—and Priority Health, a provider-sponsored health plan serving more than 1.3 million members. Through experience and collaboration, we are reimagining a better, more equitable model of health and wellness. For more information, visit corewellhealth.org. 

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Contact:  

Andrea Finnigan
616.293.6050 (cell/text)
andrea.finnigan@corewellhealth.org                                          
newsroom.corewellhealth.org