There are now 589 multiple sclerosis patients in Saskatchewan who have applied to be part of a United States clinical trial in neck vein surgery.

The province is spending $2.2 million to send 86 people to Albany, N.Y. for trials in the so-called liberation therapy, which involves inflating tiny balloons to open up constricted neck veins.

Half of them will have the procedure, while the other half will have a placebo procedure.

It's a double-blind trial, meaning neither the patients nor the doctors examining them afterward will know if they've had the real treatment done.

MS is a neurological disease with a wide variety of symptoms, including limb numbness, spasticity and impaired mobility.

The neck vein procedure is controversial, with some experts saying it doesn't work. Generally, the treatment isn't covered under the Canadian health care system.

However, many Canadian MS patients say it gives them some relief and have gone overseas to get it done.

The Saskatchewan Health Ministry says about 3,500 people in the province have MS.

People can still apply. Applications to volunteer for the clinical trial will close on Feb. 24.

Because there are more applicants than available spots, there will be a random selection to decide who gets to go. The first patients should be headed for Albany in March.