In 2010 the Center for Ultrasound Functional Neurosurgery was opened in Solothurn, in the german part of Switzerland. 45-50 sonications are performed every year under the guidance of Prof. Dr. med. D. Jeanmonod. Approximately 50% of the operated patients are swiss. But the Center for Ultrasound Functional Neurosurgery is well known and patients from all over the world come to Solothurn to be treated.
Some patients do not get any financial support from their health insurance nor from a governmental or social institution. This means that they have to pay the costs of the operation by themselves in addition to the traveling and subsistence costs.
The Center for Ultrasound Functional Neurosurgery has set the treatment costs as low as possible, but the major part of the expenses is related to the use of the highly specialized technology. Several patients cannot be treated despite the help of their family and friends. This fact lead to the idea of the Foundation. Persons suffering from functional brain disorders should have the possibility to be treated, independently from the situation or the country they are living in.
It is worth mentioning that even though Ultrasound Functional Neurosurgery belongs to the most recent highly specialized medicine, the costs for an operation remain lower than for other neurosurgical treatments. This may be related to the fact that it is performed in an ambulatory context.
Some informations about Prof. Dr. med. D. Jeanmonod and the Center for Ultrasound Functional Neurosurgery:
After studies in medicine in Lausanne and training in functional neurosurgery in London (Prof. D. Thomas) and Lyon (Prof. M. Sindou), Professor Jeanmonod developed a center for the treatment of functional brain disorders in Zürich. He established it in the Neurosurgical Clinic of the University Hospital, with the support of Professor Yasargil and Professor Yonekawa.
His team, with Dr. M. Magnin, Dr. A. Morel and many others, has worked for 20 years there, studying the mechanisms of functional brain disorders and treating hundreds of patients. Older scientific contributions were reactualized and developed by recording and accumulating physiological, anatomical and clinical data over the years. This led to the establishment of a sparing concept of treatment, promoting the control of functional brain disorders, without producing neurological deficits.
In addition clinical experience underlined to the treating team the importance of the psycho-emotional dimension.
Professor Jeanmonod waited for years for a technique allowing a reduction of surgical risks and an optimization of targeting precision for his patients. In 2008 he could then be the project leader of the first study worldwide exploring and demonstrating the possibility to treat functional brain disorders with focused ultrasound. This validated the technological developments of the company InSightec, who produced the ultrasound machine.
He then decided to devote all his activities to this approach and created in 2010 the Center for Ultrasound Functional Neurosurgery in Solothurn (Switzerland). The center is administered by SoniModul Ltd, which is a family-based and independent company. Since the conclusion of the required studies in 2013, the center treats regularly patients with functional brain disorders on a certified commercial basis.