{"id":404985,"date":"2026-04-30T12:58:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T12:58:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/404985\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T12:58:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T12:58:11","slug":"how-miami-area-hospitals-are-using-tech-to-treat-parkinsons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/404985\/","title":{"rendered":"How Miami area hospitals are using tech to treat Parkinson\u2019s"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Ivonne<\/p>\n

Ivonne Gonzalez, left, and Ozzie Echemendia, who both underwent a minimally invasive brain surgery called deep brain stimulation to reduce the effects of Parkinson\u2019s disease, pose inside her home on Tuesday, April 28, 2026, in Miami. Echemendia persuaded Gonzalez to get the surgery. \u201cThis has given me a second chance. Back then at the worst point, I was bedridden, I couldn\u2019t speak; I was reborn,\u201d said Echemendia. <\/p>\n

Alie Skowronski<\/p>\n

askowronski@miamiherald.com<\/p>\n

Ozzie Echemendia\u2019s \u201csecond chance of life\u201d came in the form of a wire that runs from his brain all the way to his upper chest.<\/p>\n

Echemendia is in a battle with Parkinson\u2019s disease, a movement disorder that affects the nervous system and usually worsens over time, causing tremors and making it difficult to walk and speak. It wasn\u2019t long ago that the 54-year-old father of two found himself on the couch, unable to work or even walk without help. He had frequent tremors. He could barely speak. He was taking 60 pills a day, on average.<\/p>\n

\u201cParkinson\u2019s steals. It doesn\u2019t care what you owe to the bank. It doesn\u2019t care about keeping the lights on or feeding your kids,\u201d Echemendia, who lives in the Redland area of South Miami-Dade, told the Miami Herald during a recent video interview. \u201cThe fact that I\u2019m here sitting with you, it\u2019s a miracle.\u201d<\/p>\n

In May 2025, he underwent a minimally invasive brain surgery to implant a device in the area of the brain that largely controls movement and is connected to a battery implanted in his upper chest. Shortly after recovery, the \u201cprogramming\u201d started. Doctors began to touch and slide buttons on an iPad.<\/p>\n

At first, there was no change. By the third try, Echemendia began to move.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey hit the bull\u2019s-eye,\u201d Echemendia said. Within a few days, he was able to walk to the bathroom by himself for the first time in years.<\/p>\n

\"Ozzie Ozzie Echemendia was bedridden, had lost 59 pounds and could barely speak at his worst point. After the DBS surgery a year ago, he says, \u201cI was reborn.\u201d Alie Skowronski askowronski@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

He\u2019s still undergoing treatment for Parkinson\u2019s, a disorder that currently has no cure. But he\u2019s working again. Dancing. Walking.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t describe \u2014 words can\u2019t describe now the change,\u201d Echemendia said, tearing up. It \u201cwas a game changer for me, a life changer.\u201d<\/p>\n

What sounds like a miracle is the effects of a deep brain stimulation procedure Echemendia underwent at Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood. The procedure, most commonly known as DBS, implants thin wires into a specific area of the brain that controls movement to \u201ccontrol the symptoms of Parkinson\u2019s\u201d and other movement-related disorders without medication, according to Dr. Christopher DeMassi, chief of the Memorial Neuroscience Institute. A small battery, similar to a pacemaker, is implanted in the chest.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s almost like a light switch. You turn the device on, and they\u2019re moving totally normal,\u201d DeMassi said. \u201cThey\u2019re able to walk. They get rid of their walker. They start eating. It\u2019s a huge change in life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Ivonne Ivonne Gonzalez holds her DBS device that changes the intensity of the electric current that\u2019s running through her brain inside her home on Tuesday, April 28, 2026, in Miami. Alie Skowronski askowronski@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

The tech has been around for decades but has been honed over time to no longer require patients to stay awake as doctors poke around in their brains. The robot-assisted surgery takes less than an hour to do compared to traditional DBS surgery, which can sometimes take up to 10 hours to complete, according to the hospital. And unlike traditional brain surgery, no head shaving is needed.<\/p>\n

Those were key selling points for Ivonne Gonzalez, who underwent the procedure in late December after she was connected to Echemendia by his wife, her former co-worker. Gonzalez, who was diagnosed with Parkinson\u2019s in 2022, said she realized something was wrong when her handwriting began to change. She struggled to walk. Her speech began to slur. It became difficult to play with her grandchildren.<\/p>\n

Now, she\u2019s walking without her walker. And her speech has improved, though she\u2019s still in her own programming process.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople have to be their own advocates,\u201d Gonzalez told the Herald, stressing how important it is to find a doctor who listens and pays attention to symptoms and other changes that patients notice in their life.<\/p>\n

The robot-assisted DBS surgery is just one of the innovative technologies being used at South Florida hospitals to combat the difficult symptoms of a life-changing disorder that affects nearly 1 million people in the country.<\/p>\n

\"Ozzie Ozzie Echemendia, left, shows Ivonne Gonzalez a setting on her DBS, deep brain stimulation, device inside her home on Tuesday, April 28, 2026, in Miami. Alie Skowronski askowronski@miamiherald.com How ultrasounds are being used to slow Parkinson\u2019s<\/p>\n

At Baptist Hospital, a similar \u2014 and newer \u2014 technology is being used to lessen Parkinson\u2019s unbearable tremors, without the need for anesthesia. The MRI-guided procedure uses high-intensity focused ultrasounds to burn and kill the tremor-causing cells, according to Dr. Justin Sporrer, the director of functional neurosurgery at Baptist Health\u2019s Miami Neuroscience Institute.<\/p>\n

There are no stitches. No implanted devices. Patients go home the same day. And the effects are instantaneous.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a miracle. I literally started crying,\u201d said Timothy Sick of Fort Lauderdale, who for six years and two months lived with tremors. \u201cI came out of the machine. My hand didn\u2019t quiver at all, and [the doctor] high-fived me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Timothy Timothy Sick, 66, right, who underwent a high-frequency focused ultrasound treatment at Baptist Hospital, is grateful for his partner of over 20 years, Sal Zambito, 59, left. Sick, photographed on Tuesday, April 28, 2026, in Fort Lauderdale, says the procedure has allowed him to enjoy life again. Carl Juste cjuste@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

No two Parkinson\u2019s patients are the same. The disease affects every patient\u2019s body differently, similar to cancer. It\u2019s why treatment is so difficult.<\/p>\n

In Sick\u2019s case, his \u201ctremor dominant\u201d Parkinson\u2019s wasn\u2019t responding well to medication, making it difficult to work. He and his partner Sal Zambito went everywhere \u2014 48 different specialists from London to Boston to Miami \u2014 looking for a treatment that could bring some sense of normalcy back.<\/p>\n

They found it at Baptist. Just like DBS, the high-intensity focused ultrasound procedure commonly referred to as HIFU is approved by federal regulators to treat patients with essential tremors<\/a> and Parkinson\u2019s and is often covered by insurance.<\/p>\n

\u201cA year ago, I couldn\u2019t even get out of bed, and we had medicine, adjustments, more physical therapy,\u201d the 66-year-old Sick said. \u201cAnd then when the procedure came, I like, hopped out of bed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI have my purpose in life again,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

This type of procedure is for people whose symptoms, like tremors, are not responding well to medication, according to Sporrer.<\/p>\n

Before his procedure began, Sick remembers being asked to draw a swirl, following the lines on the page. It was difficult. His lines were shaky and all over the place. Shortly after the procedure began, he was asked to do it again. This time, he drew a near-perfect swirl.<\/p>\n

\"Timothy Timothy Sick, 66, shares a pre-treatment test, left, his brain scan, and a post-treatment test, right, on Tuesday, April 28, 2026, in Fort Lauderdale. The test shows improvement in Sick’s motor skills. Carl Juste cjuste@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was unreal. … I literally just walked yesterday well over a mile,\u201d Sick said in a recent interview. \u201cI was lucky if I could walk 100 yards before with a cane and assistance from my partner.\u201d<\/p>\n

For neurologists like Sporrer, the goal is to improve the quality of life for patients with Parkinson\u2019s disease, a condition that often worsens with time and, while not deadly on its own, is known to contribute to a shorter lifespan.<\/p>\n

With HIFU, patients are awake for the procedure and undergo tests so Sporrer can monitor the effects and make adjustments as needed. \u201cThe tremor is gone\u201d before the patient leaves the procedure table, the doctor said.<\/p>\n

Each side of the brain is done nine months apart to minimize the risk of side effects. Patients need to shave their head and wear a large helmet-looking device with what Sick describes as a \u201cwater balloon to keep your head from getting too hot.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hard part of this procedure really is identifying those [tremor-causing] cells, and we do that with an MRI,\u201d Sporrer said, explaining that the MRI gives them a picture of the brain. Then comes the ultrasound.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe beauty of ultrasound is that we can heat up those cells a little bit at first without causing damage yet, and so basically we\u2019re temporarily turning those neurons off to see what the effect is going to be,\u201d he added. \u201cIt\u2019s a little test drive.\u201d<\/p>\n

While every patient differs, most report significant tremor reductions, the doctor said. Some become tremor free. Sick is now waiting to do the procedure on the other half of his brain.<\/p>\n

\"Timothy Timothy Sick, 66, enjoys the view while conversing with his partner of over 20 years, Sal Zambito, 59, in Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday, April 28, 2026. Sick says the procedure has allowed him to enjoy life again. Carl Juste cjuste@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

Baptist Health South Florida, the region\u2019s largest not-for-profit health system, plans to expand its neuroscience division within the next five years, increasing to over 90 physicians at the Baptist Health Miami Neuroscience Institute at Baptist Hospital in Kendall.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe community is hungry for care and hungry for appropriate care\u201d as Miami-Dade\u2019s population continues to age, said Dr. Diego Torres-Russotto, chair of neurology and the distinguished endowed chair in neurology at Baptist Health Miami Neuroscience Institute.<\/p>\n

Parkinson\u2019s stem cell trial is underway at UM<\/p>\n

At the University of Miami, neurologists are testing AI\u2019s capabilities to shuffle through patient data to spot patterns that can help predict which patients may experience rapid decline. The hope is that the data will help doctors determine effective treatment options faster to reduce worsening disease advancement.<\/p>\n

One of those potential treatments: stem cells.<\/p>\n

The university is involved in an ongoing clinical trial testing whether lab-created stem cells can replace critical movement-related cells that tend to disappear in the brains of moderate to advanced Parkinson\u2019s patients, lessening the disease\u2019s effect. The job of those disappearing neurons is to release dopamine, which most people know as the \u201cfeel good\u201d hormone that helps regulate mood. But dopamine is also key to speech and movement.<\/p>\n

\u201cDopamine unlocks movement. Without it, you stay stiff and slow and potentially shake,\u201d said Dr. Ihtsham Haq, a neurology professor and chief of the movement disorder division at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.<\/p>\n

Haq said most existing Parkinson\u2019s treatments focus on reducing the disease\u2019s debilitating symptoms. This stem cell therapy, on the other hand, tries to fix one of the factors that can trigger the disease, potentially helping to restore motor and other functions.<\/p>\n

And initial trial results<\/a> are promising, according to BlueRock Therapeutics, the company behind the trial of the investigational cell therapy bemdaneprocel. UM\u2019s medical school, which previously served as a surgical site to inject patients with the stem cells, has enrolled its own participants for the next phase of the trial, which will be recruiting over 100 patients across 37 medical centers in the country.<\/p>\n

Haq describes the experimental procedure as a minimally invasive brain surgery, where a small piece of a patient\u2019s skull is removed, the stem cells are injected into their brain and the hole is closed. The patient usually stays overnight for monitoring before being discharged.<\/p>\n

The goal is to help reduce the symptoms of patients with moderate to severe symptoms whose medication is no longer working well while the search for a cure continues.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re in a situation where no kind of Parkinson\u2019s is curable, but I think that\u2019s going to change,\u201d Haq said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s more research in this direction then there ever was before,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Michelle Marchante<\/a><\/p>\n

Miami Herald<\/p>\n

Michelle Marchante covers the pulse of healthcare in South Florida and also the City of Coral Gables. Before that, she covered the COVID-19 pandemic, hurricanes, crime, education, entertainment and other topics in South Florida for the Herald as a breaking news reporter. She recently won first place in the health reporting category in the 2025 Sunshine State Awards for her coverage of Steward Health\u2019s bankruptcy. An investigative series about the abrupt closure of a Miami heart transplant program led Michelle and her colleagues to be recognized as finalists in two 2024 Florida Sunshine State Award categories. She also won second place in the 73rd annual Green Eyeshade Awards for her consumer-focused healthcare stories and was part of the team of reporters who won a 2022 Pulitzer Prize for the Miami Herald\u2019s breaking news coverage of the Surfside building collapse. Michelle graduated with honors from Florida International University and was a 2025 National Press Foundation Covering Workplace Mental Health fellow and a 2020-2021 Poynter-Koch Media & Journalism fellow.\u00a0
\n Support my work with a digital subscription<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ivonne Gonzalez, left, and Ozzie Echemendia, who both underwent a minimally invasive brain surgery called deep brain stimulation…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":404986,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[134,527,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-404985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=404985"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404985\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/404986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=404985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=404985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=404985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}