Foundation Seeks Chief Clinical Officer

The Focused Ultrasound Foundation is looking for a Chief Clinical Officer to join our team. This person will ideally be an MD or PhD with a strong track record of academic and/or industry experience in biomedical research or medical device development. Please forward the job description to anyone you think may have an interest in this position. Thank you!

Submit Your Abstract for the 2016 Symposium

With just six months until the 2016 meeting, we are now accepting abstracts related to pre-clinical, translational, or clinical research that involves the use of image-guided focused ultrasound. Topics of interest include applications in neurosurgery, oncology, pain management, women's health, and other emerging areas.

Review the abstract guidelines before submitting your abstract online.The deadline is May 9, 2016.

Apply Now for Young Investigator Awards
Graduate students, research fellows, clinical fellows, and junior faculty are encouraged to apply for the Foundation’s Young Investigator Awards to attend the Symposium and present data among focused ultrasound luminaries. LEARN MORE ABOUT THE AWARDS >

Jolesz Award Nominations are Open
We are accepting Ferenc Jolesz Memorial Award nominations until April 11, 2016.
SUBMIT A NOMINATION TODAY >

FUSF Joins Summit on US Healthcare

In January, Foundation Chairman Neal F. Kassell, MD, joined Toby Cosgrove, CEO of the Cleveland Clinic, Deborah DiSanzo, General Manager of IBM Watson Health, and other visionaries for “Courageous Conversations Regarding Healthcare Access, Quality Care, and Affordability,” at the Hilton Head Institute’s Summit on Healthcare.

The presentations and moderated panel discussions explored new ways to overcome the obstacles that prevent the US from doing more with its healthcare dollar. Dr. Kassell’s presentation “Curing with Sound,” was among those that discussed the intersection of healthcare and technology. “The value of focused ultrasound for treating disease, improving outcomes, and decreasing costs needs to remain in the forefront of our work,” said Kassell. “It is an example of a technology that plays perfectly into the new healthcare paradigm.”

Washington Post Covers Grisham’s The Tumor

John Grisham’s latest book, The Tumor, earned a front page spot on Tuesday’s Style section of the Washington Post. Reporter Michael Rosenwald, who also covered Tony Mendez at our Symposium, sat down with Grisham, learning that his motivation was about raising awareness. “The Tumor has the potential to one day save or prolong millions of lives,” says Grisham. Foundation Chairman, Neal Kassell, agrees: “I couldn’t think of a better way, in one fell swoop, to create awareness for this technology.”  

The book, which debuted for free on Amazon last month, has been gaining momentum, earning better than a 4-star rating. Over 150,000 copies have been distributed, and that number is climbing.  

In addition to the Post, New Scientist features Grisham and focused ultrasound in their “One Minute Interview.” Additional coverage includes Mashable, The Guardian, People.com, MassDevice, DOTmed, MedPage Today, and Virginia Business. 

READ THE ARTICLE >

FUS Papers are Medical Physics 2015 Editor’s Picks

Two focused ultrasound papers have been deemed “particularly significant or newsworthy” and named 2015 Editor's Picks by the journal Medical Physics. Collaboration between UVA, INSERM, and the Foundation proved successful for using MR as a substitute for CT skull aberration correction. Teams from Stanford and UCSF joined forces to devise a formula to determine loss of tissue viability during prostatic thermal ablation.

Research Update: Histotripsy Standards and Lysis of Deep Vein Thrombi

With the eventual goal to use focused ultrasound to dissolve chronic deep vein blood thrombi, Kenneth B. Bader, PhD, and his colleagues at the University of Cincinnati recently completed a study to develop standards to regulate microbubble cloud formation during histotripsy pulses. The three-part project was successful in first assessing the area, location, and type of microbubble activity and ablation during histotripsy using passive cavitation imaging. The second portion of the project developed an analytic mathematical model to predict the extent of the microbubble cloud. Phase three evaluated the efficacy of using histotripsy in conjunction with thrombolytic agents to enhance blood clot lysis. Are they close to translating their data to a clinical setting?

EDAP Announces Study Results for Focal HIFU

Long-term results from the Ablatherm Focal HIFU study of hemiablation for prostate cancer have been published in Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases. The prospective study with a follow-up extending to eight years reports 100% cancer specific survival at five years, a 94% rate of continence preservation, and 80% rate of potency preservation.

Research Roundup

This month’s roundup includes studies in brain disorders, immunology, and women’s health. Is it feasible to use focused ultrasound to treat temporal lobe epilepsy? Can scientists deliver GDNF plasmids across the BBB to potentially treat Parkinson’s disease? How does focused ultrasound compare to DBS in treating ET?

JTU Article of the Month – A New Target for Essential Tremor

A Swiss group is testing a new neurological target for treating essential tremor (ET). In their study, Gallay and colleagues used focused ultrasound to perform cerebellothalamic lesioning in 21 ET patients, with three of the patients receiving bilateral treatment after one year. Did these scientists find a new bilateral approach for patients with therapy-refractory essential tremor? Read more at the new Journal of Therapeutic Ultrasound website.

“Using this technique, a dramatic improvement in contralateral hand tremor control was observed in most patients without significant side effects or complications. Importantly, the staged bilateral lesions improved ipsilateral and contralateral tremor control, albeit in only three patients, without the serious adverse neurological consequences typically seen with bilateral VIM thalamotomies,” says G. Rees Cosgrove, MD, Director, Epilepsy and Functional Neurosurgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School.

HistoSonics Partners with Ethicon in Tumor Treatment

A new project developed through the Johnson & Johnson Innovation Center pairs Ethicon Endo-Surgery with HistoSonics to develop a solid tumor treatment modality to mechanically homogenize and destroy targeted tissue through histotripsy. According to the press release, although surgical resection remains the gold standard for solid tumors, approximately 85 percent of patients are not candidates for surgery, particularly those with cancers of the liver and pancreas.

Theraclion Submits the First “Forfait Innovation” in France

Theraclion is the first company to submit an application for “Forfait Innovation,” a new reimbursement mechanism created by the French Ministry of Health to accelerate market adoption of novel technologies.
 

SonaCare Launches Real-Time Remote Monitoring

SonaCare Medical has introduced Sonalink, a remote monitoring system to provide physician training and support. Experienced support personnel at SonaCare headquarters can remotely monitor an entire HIFU procedure and interact with the physician and OR staff in real-time to answer questions and provide training and guidance. Sonalink is included on all Sonablate systems and provided at no extra charge.

Alpinion Receives CE Mark for ALPIUS 900

The Korean-based Alpinion Medical Systems’ ALPIUS 900 ultrasound-guided HIFU system for the treatment of uterine fibroids has received the CE Mark. It has been approved in Korea since 2014. According to the press release, the ALPIUS 900 includes an innovative water-cooling technology to prevent skin burns, a tool for pre-checking the focal point, a multi-channel transducer, and an average one-hour treatment time.

• Researchers Develop Method to Liquefy Tumors Using Sound Waves, Safely Treating Cancer without Chemo or Radiation on NaturalNews.com 2/5/16
   
• Experimental Ultrasound Treatment Zaps Cancer Pain on CBSNews.com 1/29/16 (video)
   
• Wimbledon's Pioneers: Gail McCarthy-ter Haar and Nandita deSouza Tackling Cancer Together (Inspiring Women) in Darling Magazine February/March 2016 (page 5)

• In a Crowded Field, High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound Stakes a Claim on OncLive.com 2/2/16
   
• High Intensity Focused Ultrasound Provides Important Treatment for Men with Prostate Cancer on News-Medical.net and New High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) Advances Treatment for Prostate Cancer on Pharmiweb.com 1/26/16