Israeli doctors at Rambam Medical Center in Haifa are reporting a dramatic first in Israel, a man suffering from extreme opioid painkiller dependence was treated with focused sound waves to the brain, in a non-invasive procedure that lasted about 20 minutes.

The patient, a man in his 40s from northern Israel, had suffered a neck injury years earlier and began using opioid painkillers as part of his recovery. The pain eventually eased, but the dependence did not. According to Rambam doctors, his dosage kept climbing until he was taking roughly 130 pills a day, not because of the original injury, but because his body had become dependent on the drug.