Focused Ultrasound Surgery Foundation

Training Site: Department of Radiology, St. Mary’s Hospital, Imperial College, London

Mentor: Wladyslaw Gedroyc, M.D.

Fellowship Period: July 2009 – June 2010

I am a trained anesthetist currently working in the UK and my intention is to specialize in pain management as a career path. I have been involved in several projects in the field of pain management already, and following discussions with the pain management team at St. Mary's and Professor Gedroyc from Radiology, I am extremely keen to work on the evolving project that is being developed at St. Mary's for the treatment of facet joint pain using MR-guided focused ultrasound. There is a large practice of facet joint injections and facet joint radiofrequency (RF) ablation already in place at St. Mary's with up to 12 such procedures being carried out every week as pain control for the common problem of facet related back pain. The project will be to utilize focused ultrasound to perform noninvasive facet joint ablations using MR control withthe goal of replacing more invasive percutaneous RF ablation procedures.