New Technology Helps First Israeli Patient Overcome Opioid Addiction
Doctors at the Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa have treated their first Israeli patient dealing with opioid addiction using an experimental noninvasive brain technology, managing to ease the withdrawal symptoms in just 20 minutes.
The patient, a 40-year-old family man from northern Israel, had been dealing with a neck injury for years, which led him to rely heavily on painkillers—ultimately developing an addiction.
“Although the original pain subsided over time, he found it increasingly difficult to stop using the drugs. His dosage escalated, peaking at around 130 pills each day,” explained Dr. Amir Minerbi, who heads the Pain Medicine Institute at Rambam. “It became less about pain management and more about his need for the substance to feel normal.”
In this innovative procedure at Rambam, specialists worked on the patient’s nucleus accumbens, the area of the brain tied to pleasure and reward. They utilized technology from the Israeli company Insightec, which is typically used to treat essential tremors and Parkinson’s Disease, employing MRI to guide the treatment.
The treatment, which does not involve heating or damaging any tissue, allowed the doctors to stimulate specific areas of the brain to either enhance or reduce activity as needed.
“With this new technique, we can specifically target electrical activity in the brain, influencing control areas based on the patient’s needs,” commented Dr. Lior Lev-Tov, head of the functional neurosurgery unit at Rambam and the principal investigator behind this study.
“During the session, the patient showed an immediate reduction in cravings. Follow-ups indicated he tested negative for opioids and other substances just a week later. He reported no desire to use the drug, which is quite remarkable. Additionally, he significantly reduced his cigarette consumption and had no urge to drink alcohol. Essentially, in about 20 minutes, this patient overcame a long-standing dependence that had been part of his daily life for years. This is genuinely revolutionary,” Dr. Lev-Tov stated.
The Wider Opioid Epidemic
Opioid addiction is often described as a global epidemic. In the United States alone, it has resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths and incurs damages of around $60 billion annually. Israel had once topped the charts for growing opioid usage, but that trend has now reversed and is on the decline.
“Opioid-based painkillers can serve important roles in treating short-term pain, yet a certain percentage of users may end up developing an addiction, which complicates their effectiveness and leads to harmful side effects, including impaired lung function and increased risks of death,” Dr. Minerbi warned.
The process of detoxifying from opioids typically involves gradual tapering off, which has a low success rate of just about 5%. Even when patients manage to quit, they remain at risk of serious health complications. The new method offers a targeted approach by affecting brain areas responsible for addiction, providing hope to many seeking recovery in a less traumatic manner.
This study is part of a multicenter trial happening across three locations in the U.S., showing promising results in maintaining treatment benefits for opioid detoxification. Remarkably, some participants were even heroin addicts, whereas H. was treated while actively withdrawing—a tough challenge that yielded valuable insights for the broader study.
“Since the treatment, he has remained drug-free and has expressed joy in reclaiming his life. Tests confirm that his body has returned to normal,” Dr. Lev-Tov reported. “This non-invasive technique could open doors to treat various severe conditions, including PTSD, OCD, severe depression, eating disorders, and cognitive impairments like Alzheimer’s and ADHD, among others.”
He added, “Rambam is leading the way in utilizing this innovative FUS technology and will continue to advance it for broader applications in medical treatment, always prioritizing ethical practices and patient outcomes.”
