Focused Ultrasound Surgery Foundation

MR-GUIDED FOCUSED ULTRASOUND - THE FUTURE OF NON-INVASIVE SURGERY
Magnetic Resonance Imaging guided Focused Ultrasound (MRgFUS) is a new technology for non-invasive surgery, the precise delivery of drugs, and an alternative to radiation therapy which promises improved outcomes and faster recovery for tumors and other conditions.

MRgFUS can lead to profound changes in the way that surgeries are performed by allowing incisionless operations, ablating tissues and tumors from outside the body with high-frequency ultrasound waves. This type of surgery requires no anesthesia, has no or a greatly reduced risk of infection and a low rate of complications. It can also be performed on an outpatient basis and allow you to return to normal activity within 1 to 2 days.

HOW MR-GUIDED FOCUSED ULTRASOUND WORKS
MR-guided focused ultrasound surgery is a breakthrough technology resulting from the innovative marriage of:

Focused ultrasound, the concentration of multiple intersecting beams of ultrasound energy with extreme precision on a target tissue as small as one millimeter in diameter, much like a magnifying glass can focus multiple beams of light on a single point.

Magnetic resonance imaging, used to identify and localize the tissue to be targeted and treated interactively in real time, to provide immediate confirmation on the effectiveness of the therapy, and provide feedback of temperature levels within the tissue in order to insure a safe and effective treatment of the area.

CURRENT AND FUTURE APPLICATIONS OF MRgFUS

Tissue Ablation:
MR-guided focused ultrasound surgery can precisely ablate (i.e., destroy) tumors and other tissues while leaving the normal surrounding structures unaltered. Compared to radiation therapy, MR-guided focused ultrasound surgery provides greater precision and accuracy and there is no cumulative dose affect, no limitation on lesion size, no limitation on the number of treatments, and no secondary tumors.

Targeted drug delivery:
MR-guided focused ultrasound surgery may be used to deliver drugs such as antibiotics, chemotherapy agents, genes, or growth factors in high concentrations specifi cally to the tissue site where they are needed, thus avoiding the systemic toxicity associated with other delivery methods.

Dissolving clots: MR-guided focused ultrasound surgery may be used to rapidly dissolve clots obstructing blood flow in arteries, including those associated with stroke and related diseases, minimizing or even eliminating their destructive eff ects on normal tissue.