Tuberculosis

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Focused Ultrasound Therapy

Focused ultrasound is a noninvasive, therapeutic technology with the potential to improve the quality of life and decrease the cost of care for patients with tuberculosis. This novel technology focuses beams of ultrasound energy precisely and accurately on targets deep in the body without damaging surrounding normal tissue.

How it Works
Where the beams converge, focused ultrasound produces precise ablation (thermal destruction of tissue) enabling preclinical models similar to tuberculosis to be treated without surgery. While significant preclinical work has been accomplished, there is still much to be done before this technology will be widely available.

Advantages
World-wide, tuberculosis is still a major problem. The primary options for treatment of tuberculosis include medications, which are not completely effective. For certain patients, focused ultrasound could provide a noninvasive alternative and perhaps more effective alternative to conventional therapy. It also carries less risk of complications, such as surgical wound healing or infection. It can reach the desired target without damaging surrounding tissue and is repeatable, if necessary.

Clinical Trials

At the present time, there are no clinical trials recruiting patients for focused ultrasound treatment of tuberculosis.

Regulatory Approval and Reimbursement

Focused ultrasound treatment for tuberculosis is not yet approved by regulatory bodies or covered by medical insurance companies.

Notable Papers

Xie S, Cao H, Li J, Prasad Adhikari V, Yang M, Dong Y, Li D, Du Y. Bactericidal effects of high intensity focused ultrasound on Bacillus Calmette-Guerin in vivo and in vitro. Int J Hyperthermia. 2019;36(1):886-896. doi: 10.1080/02656736.2019.1649474.

Click here for additional references from PubMed.

Early Stage