Focused Ultrasound Therapy
Focused ultrasound is a rapidly evolving, noninvasive, therapeutic technology with the potential to improve the quality of life and decrease the cost of care for patients with cerebral cavernous malformations (CCMs), which are also called “cavernomas”. This novel technology focuses beams of ultrasound energy precisely and accurately on targets deep in the brain without damaging surrounding normal tissue.
How it Works
Where the beams converge, focused ultrasound produces precise ablation (thermal destruction of tissue), which may enable CCMs to be treated without surgery.
Advantages
The primary options for treatment of CCMs include surgery or observation. However, for deep brain CCMs, surgery is likely to result in neural injury due to the retraction required to access the CCM.
For certain patients, focused ultrasound could provide a noninvasive alternative to surgery with less risk of complications – such as surgical wound healing or infection – at a lower cost. It can also be repeated, if necessary.
Clinical Trials
At the present time, there are no clinical trials recruiting patients for focused ultrasound treatment of CCMs.
Preclinical Research
A study at University of Virginia will treat animal models for CCMs in a project entitled “Focused ultrasound for treatment of deep-seated cerebral cavernous malformations.”
Regulatory Approval and Reimbursement
Focused ultrasound treatment for CCM treatment is not yet approved by regulatory bodies or covered by medical insurance companies.
Notable Papers
Pruitt R, Gamble A, Black K, Schulder M, Mehta AD. Complication avoidance in laser interstitial thermal therapy: lessons learned. J Neurosurg. 2017 Apr;126(4):1238-1245. doi: 10.3171/2016.3.JNS152147. Epub 2016 Jun 3.
Click here for additional references from PubMed.
