Key Points
- AAPM’s 63rd Annual Meeting and Exhibition took place virtually July 25-29 with the theme “Creative Science. Advancing Medicine.”
- Focused ultrasound-related sessions addressed neurorestoration, neuromodulation, and mechanical tissue destruction.
The American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) 63rd Annual Meeting and Exhibition took place virtually July 25-29. This year’s theme was “Creative Science. Advancing Medicine.”
Elisa Konofagou, PhD, presented the Carson-Zagzebski Distinguished Lectureship on Medical Ultrasound. Dr. Konofagou’s presentation, “Ultrasound-based Neurotherapeutics and Imaging of Cardiovascular Disease and Cancer,” described various mechanisms of focused ultrasound, including inducing neurorestoration through protein and gene delivery across the blood-brain barrier and neuromodulation of the brain and peripheral nerves.
A session titled, “Mechanical Tissue Disruption with Focused Ultrasound,” was moderated by Allison Payne, PhD. The content presenters were Tatiana Khoklova, PhD, Adam Maxwell, PhD, and Ken Bader, PhD, who presented their work in the abstracts listed below (PDF link available for some):
- Boiling Histotripsy for Ablation of Intrabdominal Targets by Dr. Khokhlova
- Cavitation Control in Burst Wave Lithotripsy of Kidney Stones: A Delicate Balance by Dr. Maxwell
- The Development of Metrics to Gauge Treatment Outcomes from Mechanical Ablation with Focused Ultrasound by Dr. Bader
“The Foundation was excited to sponsor the recent AAPM meeting in support of medical physicists learning about and beginning to integrate ultrasound technology into the healthcare armamentarium,” said the Foundation’s Director of Extramural Research, Matt Eames, PhD. “Medical physicists play a crucial role in the delivery of other therapies, and our hope is that they embrace focused ultrasound to facilitate and accelerate clinical adoption.”
These sessions and more can be further accessed on AAPM’s meeting website.