Image-Guided Focused Ultrasound Gains Ground As Noninvasive Therapeutic Tool

Article preview from Medtech Insight - October 1, 2011

Research into the use of image-guided focused ultrasound (IgFUS) as a noninvasive therapeutic modality is starting to achieve the kind of critical mass - in clinical outcomes data and R&D investment - necessary to win the interest and support of clinicians, payors, and regulators. Although there is still a good distance to travel before the technology achieves a routine place in the therapeutic toolkit, IgFUS is clearly an up-and-coming field in the medical device arena, and many believe it has the potential to revolutionize the treatment paradigm in a number of clinical areas.

Image-Guided Focused Ultrasound Gains Ground As Noninvasive Therapeutic Tool

Article preview from Medtech Insight - October 1, 2011

Research into the use of image-guided focused ultrasound (IgFUS) as a noninvasive therapeutic modality is starting to achieve the kind of critical mass – in terms of both clinical outcomes data and R&D investment – necessary to win the interest and support of clinicians, payors, and regulators. Although there is still a good distance to travel before the technology achieves a routine place in the therapeutic toolkit, IgFUS is clearly an up-and-coming field in the medical device arena, and many believe it has the potential to revolutionize the treatment paradigm in a number of clinical areas. IgFUS is an attractive therapeutic modality because it can target and destroy diseased tissue in a completely noninvasive manner without relying on ionizing radiation. But what is even more impressive is the far-ranging diversity of potential clinical applications for this technology, which proponents say includes a long list of common disorders, ranging from uterine fibroids, to Parkinson's disease, to breast cancer. In fact, using lower levels of FUS energy, researchers have even been able to safely and noninvasively modify (rather than destroy) biological tissues to positively impact therapy; for example, temporarily opening the blood-brain barrier to enable drug therapies to pass into the brain.

Interest In FUS Accelerating

Because of its potential to displace invasive therapies and improve patient outcomes in so many areas, FUS therapy has attracted a good deal of interest from both academia and industry. That interest has intensified over the past five years, thanks in part to help from the Focused Ultrasound Surgery Foundation (FUSF), a nonprofit organization founded in 2006 that is dedicated to accelerating the development and adoption of image-guided FUS through research support and other initiatives aimed at increasing awareness of this technology.

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Medtech Insight newsletter provides insights into the technology and market developments (devices, instrumentation, biomaterials, gene therapy, tissue engineering, etc.) impacting a wide range of surgical and non-surgical clinical practices.