Thyroid Nodules

Last Updated: 6 September 2023

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 thyroid nodules. 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 thyroid nodules to be treated without surgery.

Advantages
The primary options for treatment of thyroid nodules include medication and invasive surgery.

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 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 treatment of thyroid nodules.

See a full list of thyroid nodule clinical trials >

See a list of treatment sites >
See a list of laboratory research sites >

Regulatory Approval and Reimbursement

The Echopulse system manufactured by Theraclion is approved in Europe, Russia and Korea for treating thyroid nodules. Some European insurance companies are paying for focused ultrasound treatment of thyroid nodules.

Notable Papers

Benaim EH, Nieri C, Mamidala M, Herr MJ, Sheyn A, Gillespie MB. High-intensity focused ultrasound for benign thyroid nodules: Systemic review and meta-analysis. Am J Otolaryngol. 2023 Jul 11;44(6):103999. doi: 10.1016/j.amjoto.2023.103999. PMID: 37478539

Filippou A, Evripidou N, Damianou C. Robotic system for magnetic resonance imaging-guided focused ultrasound treatment of thyroid nodules. Int J Med Robot. 2023 May 7:e2525. doi: 10.1002/rcs.2525. PMID: 37149886

Chorti A, Bontinis V, Tzikos G, Bontinis A, Ioannidis A, Michalopoulos A, Papavramidis T. Minimally invasive treatments of benign thyroid nodules: a network meta-analysis of short-term outcomes. Thyroid. 2023 May 11. doi: 10.1089/thy.2022.0671. PMID: 37166390

Czech N, Hoppe P. The Echotherapy as non-invasive treatment option for thyroid diseases. [Original Title: Die Echotherapie als nichtinvasives Therapieverfahren von Schilddrüsenveränderungen.] Laryngorhinootologie. 2022 Jul;101(7):562-568. doi: 10.1055/a-1076-9540. Epub 2022 Jun 23.

Fischer A, Korkusuz H, Vorländer C. Effectiveness of High-intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) Therapy of Solid and Complex Benign Thyroid Nodules – A Long-term Follow up Two-center Study. Exp Clin Endocrinol Diabetes. 2022 Jun;130(6):374-380. doi: 10.1055/a-1719-4441. Epub 2022 Jan 10.

Baldwin CK, Natter MB, Patel KN, Hodak SP. Minimally Invasive Techniques for the Management of Thyroid Nodules. Endocrinol Metab Clin North Am. 2022 Jun;51(2):323-349. doi: 10.1016/j.ecl.2022.01.001.

Jasim S, Patel KN, Randolph G, Adams S, Cesareo R, Condon E, Henrichsen T, Itani M, Papaleontiou M, Rangel L, Schmitz J, Stan MN. American Association of Clinical Endocrinology Disease State Clinical Review: The Clinical Utility of Minimally Invasive Interventional Procedures in the Management of Benign and Malignant Thyroid Lesions. Endocr Pract. 2022 Apr;28(4):433-448. doi: 10.1016/j.eprac.2022.02.011.

Vorländer C, Fischer A, Korkusuz H. High intensity focused ultrasound in the therapy of benign thyroid nodules-first German bicentric study with long-term follow-up. Endocrine. 2022 Apr 27. doi: 10.1007/s12020-022-03058-z.

Vorländer C, Fischer A, Korkusuz H. Effects of Regional and General Anesthesia on the Therapeutic Outcome of Benign Thyroid Nodules Treated with High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU). World J Surg. 2022 May;46(5):1076-1081. doi: 10.1007/s00268-022-06447-7. Epub 2022 Jan 24.

Kuo JH, Sinclair CF, Lang B, Spiezia S, Yu M, Ha EJ, Na DG, Offi C, Patel KN, Baek JH. A comprehensive review of interventional ablation techniques for the management of thyroid nodules and metastatic lymph nodes. Surgery. 2022 Apr;171(4):920-931. doi: 10.1016/j.surg.2021.07.043. Epub 2021 Nov 12.

Cheong CWS, Au JXY, Lim MY, Fu EW, Li H, Gan JY. The efficacy and safety of high-intensity focused ultrasound in the treatment of benign thyroid nodules: A systematic review and meta-analysis from 1990 to 2021. Ann Acad Med Singap. 2022 Feb;51(2):101-108.

Fischer A, Korkusuz H, Vorländer C. Erratum: Effectiveness of High-intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) Therapy of Solid and Complex Benign Thyroid Nodules – A Long-term Follow up Two-center Study. Exp Clin Endocrinol Diabetes. 2022 Feb 14. doi: 10.1055/a-1751-1953.

Ben Hamou A, Monpeyssen H. Horner’s Syndrome During High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound Ablation for a Benign Thyroid Nodule. AACE Clin Case Rep. 2021 Jan 7;7(3):164-168. doi: 10.1016/j.aace.2020.11.035. eCollection 2021 May-Jun.

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