ABSTRACT

As indicated in the Preface, the timetable for receipt and review of manuscripts and returning them to authors for suggested revisions was unusually short and had to be rigidly adhered to so that final approval of all chapters could be completed by January 15, 2003. One of the incentives to participate in this work was the promise of exceptionally prompt publication and since a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, it was necessary to strictly enforce this accelerated schedule. This goal was particularly difficult to achieve since our initial outline only provided for up to 30 chapters, and we had received over fifty. As a result, several worthwhile contributions could not be included. In addition, advances were occurring so rapidly in this field that time constraints precluded obtaining chapters on late breaking developments. Nevertheless, we were able to include some, such as radiofrequency nucleoplasty for low back pain due to degenerative disk disease and transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) for tinnitus. It seemed advisable to use this concluding chapter to describe additional approaches that have obtained FDA approval and others that might have merit in an effort to make this presentation as comprehensive and current as possible. In that regard, it should be noted that an interdisciplinary team at NIH has invented a new transcranial magnetic stimulation coil that can stimulate neurons deep within the brain without causing the seizures or tissue damage that limit the use of high intensity TMS fields from conventional coils. Researchers believe this opens up the possibility of numerous applications ranging from Parkinson’s disease to energizing the brain’s “pleasure center”.