Insightec's Incisionless Focused Ultrasound Therapy Successfully Treats Downton Abbey Creator Lord Julian Fellowes for Essential Tremor

Essential tremor, considered the most common neurological movement disorder, is estimated to affect more than 60 million people worldwide¹

MIAMI, Sept. 17, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Insightec, a global healthcare innovator pioneering the use of focused ultrasound to transform patient care, today announced that Lord Julian Fellowes, Oscar-winning screen writer and acclaimed creator of Downton Abbey, has undergone magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound (MR-guided focused ultrasound) to treat essential tremor (ET). He has lived with the condition for over a decade and experienced meaningful improvement in his tremor following treatment.

ET is a debilitating and progressive neurological movement disorder that causes involuntary shaking, commonly of the hands and arms, but it can also affect the head, voice, and other parts of the body.³ The condition can significantly impact daily activities and quality of life, including the ability to work, with over 40% saying it impacts their ability to socialise and continue hobbies.⁴

Ahead of his treatment, Lord Fellowes spoke of losing his handwriting from ET: "I'm a writer and, of course, that means I have to type, because one of the losses has been handwriting. Writing by hand is now impossible for me."

Driven by his personal experience, Lord Fellowes serves as Honorary President of the National Tremor Foundation, which recently hosted a UK parliamentary meeting to raise awareness of the significant unmet needs of more than one million people affected by ET across the UK.² Although often being misdiagnosed, ET is the most common neurological movement disorder, estimated to be eight to ten times more prevalent than Parkinson's disease.⁴ Yet awareness and therapy uptake remain low across movement disorders, with 97% of eligible patients not receiving advanced therapies.⁶

To share his experience, Fellowes partnered with Insightec on a film that highlights the impact of ET on Fellowes' life, particularly his ability to write – which is both central to his personal life and professional career – and demonstrates how focused ultrasound, a safe, incisionless treatment, helped him restore it.

"I've got the pleasure of being able to write again," Lord Fellowes reflected. "If I were talking to someone who was considering having the treatment, I would say to them that, for me, my life feels much more normal again. I haven't regretted it for one second."

To date, Insightec's focused ultrasound technology has been used to treat more than 25,000 patients worldwide. The procedure is typically performed on an outpatient basis, treating one side of the brain at a time. Long-term follow-up from the Insightec sponsored clinical trial revealed that unilateral MR-guided focused ultrasound for essential tremor provided sustained symptom relief, with observed patients showing a 73.1% average improvement in tremor severity at five years.⁷

"Essential tremor is often misunderstood and its impact underestimated," said Professor Dipankar Nandi MRCS Ed, FRCS (SN) Consultant Neurosurgeon, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. "MR-guided focused ultrasound is a proven, safe, and effective incisionless option for patients who do not find relief with medication. By sharing Julian Fellowes' story, we hope to raise visibility of the condition and encourage broader access to innovative treatments for movement disorders."

This successful outcome for patients like Lord Fellowes is a testament to the technology's impact, a mission that Insightec's leadership is dedicated to advancing globally.

"Julian Fellowes' story shines a light on what many people living with essential tremor experience every day: the frustration of losing simple abilities that most of us take for granted," explained Maurice R. Ferré, MD, CEO and Chairman of Insightec. "Insightec's focused ultrasound offers patients a safe, incisionless option that can truly change lives, and we are proud to see it restoring confidence and independence for people like Lord Fellowes."

"Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale," written by Fellowes, had its global theatrical premiere this past weekend. For more information on essential tremor and to learn more about focused ultrasound as a therapy option, visit the National Tremor Foundation website.

About Insightec
Insightec is a global healthcare company creating the next generation of patient care by realizing the therapeutic power of acoustic energy. The company's Exablate Neuro platform focuses sound waves, safely guided by MRI, to provide treatment to patients with medication-refractory essential tremor and Parkinson's disease*. Research for future applications in the neuroscience space is underway in partnership with leading academic and medical institutions. Insightec is headquartered in Haifa, Israel, and Miami, with offices in Dallas, Texas; Frankfurt, Germany; Shanghai; and Tokyo.

Follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter or visit www.insightec.com for more information. For detailed country specific indications visit https://insightec.com/regulatory-approvals/.

This patient testimonial may not be representative of all treatment outcomes. For full patient safety information, visit https://insightec.com/safety-information/.

Professor Dipankar Nandi was previously a paid consultant for Insightec.

Forward-looking Statements:
This document contains forward-looking statements regarding, among other things, plans, expectations, and future events. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the following words: "may," "can," "will," "could," "would," "should," "expect," "intend," "plan," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "project," "potential," "promise," "continue," "ongoing," or the negative of these terms. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from what is expressed or implied by the statements. Any forward-looking statement is based on information available to Insightec as of the date of the statement. All written or oral forward-looking statements attributable to Insightec are qualified by this caution. Insightec does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement to reflect any change in circumstances or in Insightec's expectations.

"Exablate," and "Exablate Neuro," as well as the "INSIGHTEC" logo, whether standing alone or in connection with the word "Insightec," are protected trademarks of Insightec.

References:
1 Welton, T., Cardoso, F., Carr, J.A. et al. Essential tremor. Nat Rev Dis Primers 7, 83 (2021). https://www.nature.com/articles/s41572-021-00314-w
² Essential Tremor Information Leaflet. Available at: https://tremor.org.uk/images/downloads/information/Essential_Tremor_Pamphlet.pdf. Accessed: August 2025.
³ Louis & McCreary. How Common is Essential Tremor? Update on the Worldwide Prevalence of Essential Tremor. Tremor Other Hyperkinet Mov (N Y). 2021 Jul 9;11:28.
⁴ Essential Tremor. Available at: Essential Tremor. Accessed: August 2025.
⁵ Gupta et al. Exploring essential tremor: Results from a large online survey. Clin Park Relat Disord. 2021 Jun 25;5:100101.
⁶ Based on 2023 MedScout claims data on patient population and DBS volumes combined with Insightec treatment data on file (ET and PD).
⁷ Cosgrove et al. Magnetic resonance imaging–guided focused ultrasound thalamotomy for essential tremor: 5-year follow-up results. Journal of Neurosurgery. 2022 Aug 138;4:1028-1033.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1699588/5510908/Insightec_Logo.jpg