Virginia Hospital Center View Institution's Website 1 article published in JoVE Medicine Bronchial Thermoplasty: A Novel Therapeutic Approach to Severe Asthma David R. Duhamel1, Jeff B. Hales2 1Director of Pulmonary Special Procedures and the Lung Cancer Center, Virginia Hospital Center, 2Chief, Division of Pulmonary Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Virginia Hospital Center Bronchial thermoplasty is a non-drug procedure for severe persistent asthma that delivers thermal energy to the airway wall in a precisely controlled manner to reduce excessive airway smooth muscle. Reducing airway smooth muscle decreases the ability of the airways to constrict, thereby reducing the frequency of asthma attacks.