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Today is closing day for the Focused Ultrasound Surgery Foundation’s 2010 Brain Workshop. In his wrap-up remarks, Foundation CEO Neal Kassell, MD, observes, “This workshop accomplished everything we set out to do.”

The 2010 Brain Workshop is now in progress. Excitement is in the air. Virtually every pioneer and thought leader in the field of MR-guided Focused Ultrasound for brain treatments is in the room. Attendees represent academia, industry and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and include a international mix of specialties: neurosurgeons, neurologists, neuroradiologists, neuroscientists, biomedical engineers, physicists, product-development managers and medical device company executives.

Third International Symposium on Focal Therapy and Imaging of Prostate and Kidney Cancer. Fairmont Hotel, Washington, DC.  February 24-27, 2010. Duke Comprehensive Care Cancer Center, Sponsor Existing ultrasound-based technologies for treatment of prostate cancer lack accurate real-time thermal feedback during therapy, so treatment is protocol-based rather than patient-specific. Prostate motion during focal treatment is a significant issue that must be addressed.  MRI-guidance (for FUS or laser therapy) continues to offer distinct advantages. Thought leaders in urology emphasize applying focal therapy to men who truly need treatment, citing some question about the level of accurate characterization by imaging and multi-site biopsies. The option of reliable focal therapy is in fact driving the movement towards more efficient characterization.  It is important to separate out those men who truly have “low risk disease” and might be managed safely by active surveillance.

This week at the Society of Interventional Radiology’s 35th Annual Scientific Meeting, Mayo Clinic researchers released the results of a 119-patient study that used MR-guided Focused Ultrasound* to treat uterine fibroids. The study covered a period of nearly three years, with patient feedback collected via phone interview 12 months post procedure. Of the 89 patients interviewed, 97% reported improvement in their symptoms, and 90% rated their improvement as either considerable or excellent. Over the next three years, the researchers will gather additional feedback about symptom relief from these patients at the 24-month and 36-month milestones.