Treatment for addiction could be a lifelong journey. Now, doctors in Virginia are experimenting with an incision-free brain procedure that might help.

Focused ultrasound was pioneered at UVA Health to treat essential tremor and Parkinson’s disease.

“What we wanted to find was a treatment that can target those deep areas, like deep brain stimulation, but also be non-invasive,” said Dr. James Mahoney, an associate professor and clinical neuropsychologist at the University of Virginia School of Medicine.

He said they’re researching the ability to use focused ultrasound on patients with addiction and substance use disorders.

“By being able to target those areas of the brain, which are really the center of the reward circuit, this can work for multiple substances and multiple types of addic

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