Patient shoots pool with a steady hand after cutting edge operation

For more than a decade Joel Downing watched his hand tremors get progressively worse to the point where he couldn't play in his billiards league because of the shaking. After his doctor referred him to specialists at IU Health, Joel agreed to undergo a cutting-edge, non-invasive operation called focused ultrasound thalamotomy. "Every nerve function except for sense of smell runs through the thalamus," explained Dr. Thomas Witt, Joel's neurosurgeon. "This procedure [uses ultrasonic waves] to make a cut, a lesion to these specific cells in the thalamus that leads to tremor relief."