Home Diseases and Conditions Thyroid Nodules

Thyroid Nodules

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Development Stage

Early Stage

Focused ultrasound research is in the laboratory phase and is not yet available for patients.

Clinical Trials

Focused ultrasound for this condition is being researched in clinical trials.

International Approval

Focused ultrasound is approved to treat this condition outside the US. Patients can seek commercial treatment at participating international sites.

FDA Approved

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved focus ultrasound for this condition. Patients can seek commercial treatment at participating sites.

Early Stage

Clinical Trials

International

FDA Approved

Focused ultrasound is approved to treat this condition outside the US. Patients can seek commercial treatment at participating international sites. There are also clinical trials that may be of interest to patients.

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 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

There is a clinical trial that is treating a wide variety of solid tumors with histotripsy and check point inhibitors.  

There is a clinical trial that is organizing in China for the treatment of benign thyroid nodules.

The Foundation updates these pages regularly, but with the increasing number of clinical trials, we want to be sure that our audience has the latest information available. Therefore, we also added the website search information for the above trials. If you click here, it will take you to the latest information available from https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/.

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

Find a Treatment Site

Search for a treatment center or clinical trial near you.

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

Dueñas JP, Volpi EM, Voogd A, Sanabria Á, Zund S, Novelli JL, Kowalski LP. The clinical utility of thermal ablation procedures in thyroid nodules: Latin American Thyroid Society (LATS) surgical affairs committee expert opinion. Part 2. Arch Endocrinol Metab. 2025 Nov 28;69(6):e250129. doi: 10.20945/2359-4292-2025-0129. PMID: 41312853 

Mattarello MJ, De Santi F, Mingardi R, Peron C, Mazzucco M. Thermoablation Using Radiofrequency and Microwaves of Autonomous Thyroid Nodules: Our Experience. Endocr Metab Immune Disord Drug Targets. 2024 Jul 26. doi: 10.2174/0118715303322650240722095733. PMID: 39069800 

Vorländer C. Local ablative procedures for treatment of thyroid nodules. [Original Title: Lokalablative Verfahren zur Behandlung von Schilddrüsenknoten.] Chirurgie (Heidelb). 2024 May 21. doi: 10.1007/s00104-024-02101-1. PMID: 38772926 

Click here for additional references from PubMed.