Methods and systems of improving and monitoring addiction using cue reactivity
Methods of improving addiction in a patient in need thereof are provided. Methods include exposing the patient to drug related cues and measuring the patient's craving levels or physiological levels during or after cue exposure to determine the patient's status or condition. Such a determination can indicate whether the patient is at risk of engaging in the addictive activity and can guide therapeutic intervention.
1 . A method of improving addiction to an addictive behavior or addictive chemical substance in a patient in need thereof comprising:
determining if a patient is a candidate for focused ultrasound therapy; and
delivering a focused ultrasound signal, having a power between fifty and one hundred watts, to a nucleus accumbens, a striatum, an insula, an anterior cingulate, a hippocampus, an amygdala, or combinations thereof of the patient upon a determination that the patient is a candidate for focused ultrasound therapy, the focused ultrasound signal comprising a power of between fifty and one hundred watts; and
improving the patient's addiction.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein delivery of the focused ultrasound signal is continuous.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein delivery of the focused ultrasound signal is intermittent.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the focused ultrasound therapy is provided for five minutes.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the focused ultrasound therapy is provided for twenty minutes.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the focused ultrasound signal has a frequency between 0.1 megahertz and three megahertz.
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the focused ultrasound signal has a frequency between 0.1 megahertz and 0.275 megahertz.
8 . A method of improving addiction to an addictive behavior or addictive chemical substance in a patient in need thereof comprising:
determining if a patient is a candidate for focused ultrasound therapy; and
delivering a focused ultrasound signal, having a power between fifty and one hundred watts, to one of a nucleus accumbens, a hippocampus, and an amygdala of the patient upon a determination that the patient is a candidate for focused ultrasound therapy, the focused ultrasound signal comprising a power of between fifty and one hundred watts; and
improving the patient's addiction.
9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein delivery of the focused ultrasound signal is continuous.
10 . The method of claim 8 , wherein delivery of the focused ultrasound signal is intermittent.
11 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the focused ultrasound therapy is provided for five minutes.
12 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the focused ultrasound therapy is provided for twenty minutes.
13 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the focused ultrasound signal has a frequency between 0.1 megahertz and three megahertz.
14 . A method of improving addiction to an addictive behavior or addictive chemical substance in a patient in need thereof comprising:
determining if a patient is a candidate for focused ultrasound therapy; and
delivering a focused ultrasound signal, having a power between fifty and one hundred watts, to a nucleus accumbens of the patient upon a determination that the patient is a candidate for focused ultrasound therapy, the focused ultrasound signal comprising a power of between fifty and one hundred watts; and
improving the patient's addiction.
15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein delivery of the focused ultrasound signal is continuous.
16 . The method of claim 14 , wherein delivery of the focused ultrasound signal is intermittent.
17 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the focused ultrasound therapy is provided for five minutes.
18 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the focused ultrasound therapy is provided for twenty minutes.
19 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the focused ultrasound signal has a frequency between 0.1 megahertz and three megahertz.
20 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the focused ultrasound signal has a frequency between 0.1 megahertz and 0.275 megahertz.