The blood-brain barrier has been non-invasively opened in a patient for the first time. A team at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto used focused ultrasound to enable temporary and targeted opening of the blood-brain barrier (BBB), allowing the more effective delivery of chemotherapy into a patient’s malignant brain tumor.
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved SonaCare Medical’s Sonablate 450 focused ultrasound system for the ablation of prostate tissue. Focused ultrasound enables treatment of organ-confined prostate disease while preserving surrounding healthy tissue, without radiation or surgery.
The first patient with depression has been treated with focused ultrasound. This procedure marks the beginning of a pilot clinical trial to determine the feasibility and safety of MR-guided focused ultrasound to non-invasively destroy a small volume of tissue deep in the brain – the anterior limb of the internal capsule – a well-established target for treating severe depression. In this initial patient, the target was successfully ablated without complications.
Researchers at the University of Maryland and the University of Virginia have performed the first focused ultrasound treatments in the United States for dyskinesia associated with Parkinson’s disease.
Charlottesville, VA (July 30, 2015) – Former Virginia Tech President Charles Steger has joined the Council of the Focused Ultrasound Foundation.
Cancer immunotherapies are agents that harness the power of the immune system to fight cancer. Unlike traditional cancer treatments that directly kill tumor cells (such as chemotherapy and radiation), immunotherapy operates through the intermediary of the immune system. Immunotherapies empower the immune system to specifically seek out and destroy cancer cells.
he Focused Ultrasound Foundation, an entrepreneurial, tax-exempt, 501(c)3 dedicated to improving lives by advancing a transformative non-invasive treatment technology, is pleased to welcome Edward J. “Ned” Kelly, III to its Board of Directors. A seasoned executive in global banking, Mr. Kelly will advise the Foundation in strategic fundraising and facilitation of new engagement.
Focused ultrasound has been recognized by Partners HealthCare as one of the “Disruptive Dozen” emerging technologies with the potential to revolutionize neurological and psychiatric care over the next decade.
A Clinical Practice Review, published in the April 23 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine by Mayo Clinic Ob/Gyn Elizabeth Stewart, MD, recommends focused ultrasound as an important uterine-conserving treatment that should be an option for women with symptomatic uterine fibroids.
The Ontario Health Technology Advisory Committee (OHTAC) has recommended Magnetic Resonance-Guided High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (MRgHIFU or MRgFUS) as a possible “cost-effective strategy” and a “safe and effective, noninvasive, uterine-preserving” option for women seeking treatment for uterine fibroids.
The Focused Ultrasound Foundation, dedicated to improving lives by advancing a transformative non-invasive treatment technology, has received a one-year $1 million unrestricted challenge grant from an anonymous donor. The grant will match dollar-for-dollar the first $1 million given to support the Foundation’s programs in 2015.
A pre-clinical study published this week in Science Translational Medicine suggests that focused ultrasound may hold a key to providing a non-invasive, non-pharmaceutical approach to treating Alzheimer’s disease.
A pioneering clinical trial is testing whether focusing high-frequency sound waves onto the surface of bone where cancer has spread can burn away the source of pain.
A recently published report in the Journal of Molecular Psychiatry supports the potential of focused ultrasound to treat certain patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
October 27, 2014 – Charlottesville, VA – The 4th International Symposium on Focused Ultrasound featured clinical and research advances on the use of this non-invasive therapeutic technology to treat conditions as diverse as Parkinson’s disease and essential tremor, obsessive compulsive disorder, several cancers, hypertension and uterine fibroids. More than 400 clinicians, scientists, government and industry representatives from around the world gathered from October 12-16 to share the latest translational and clinical research in image-guided focused ultrasound.
Tony and Jonna Mendez, former CIA spymasters, talked about Tony’s experience as the mastermind of the ARGO mission and their careers in intelligence technical development. Tony also spoke about his latest mission of managing Parkinson’s disease and supporting focused ultrasound at the 4th International Symposium on the Current and Future Applications of Focused Ultrasound on Tuesday, October 14, 2014. It was here that he spoke publicly for the first time about his Parkinson’s Disease.
A briefing featuring key data presented at the 4th International Symposium on Focused Ultrasound, the world's leading forum dedicated to the latest clinical and translational developments in this non-invasive therapy. Global experts will highlight advances in the use of focused ultrasound to treat brain disorders and cancers as well as share promising data on several emerging applications.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – (September 16, 2014) – The Focused Ultrasound Foundation has recruited Mike Cashman as Co-Director of Development. Cashman joins Pamela Minetti to expand the development effort and take the Foundation’s unique venture philanthropy model to new supporters, increase the reach of our message, and create novel partnerships with like-minded organizations. The addition of this new position will further the Foundation’s efforts to accelerate the development of new applications of focused ultrasound and its widespread adoption as a standard of care.
A press briefing will be conducted featuring key data presented at the 4th International Symposium on Focused Ultrasound. Global experts will highlight advances in the use of focused ultrasound – a non-invasive therapeutic technology – to treat brain disorders, cancers and pain, as well as share promising data on several emerging applications.
A patient at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) is the first child in North America to have undergone a specialized procedure that uses ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to destroy a tumour in his leg without piercing the skin. Doctors used an MRI to guide high-intensity ultrasound waves to destroy a benign bone tumour called osteoid osteoma. The lesion had caused 16-year-old Jack Campanile excruciating pain for a year prior to the July 17 procedure. By the time he went to bed that night, the athletic teen experienced complete pain relief.
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