Key Points
- ASNR 2024 was held May 18–22 in Las Vegas, Nevada, with the theme “Celebrating Neuroradiologists.”
- Seven presentations and four abstracts featured focused ultrasound research.
The American Society of Neuroradiology (ASNR) hosted its 2024 Annual Meeting from May 18–22 in Las Vegas, NV, bringing together neuroradiologists, neurosurgeons, researchers, and industry leaders in neuroradiology. This annual conference focuses on innovations in neuroimaging, therapeutic interventions, and clinical applications. The 2024 meeting theme was “Celebrating Neuroradiologists.”
ASNR’s President-Elect, Max Wintermark, MD, MS, FASFNR, FICIS, a physician who is an expert in focused ultrasound, served as the 2024 Annual Meeting program chair. After practicing for several years at Stanford University, Dr. Wintermark is now the chair of neuroradiology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Neuroradiology.
Suzanne LeBlang, MD, the Foundation’s Director of Clinical Relationships, is a neuroradiologist and attended this year’s meeting. “Focused ultrasound was featured in at least four different sessions, including the international session and the innovations in image-guided therapeutics session,” said Dr. LeBlang. “So that was great. I also came away from the meeting excited about the many technological advances in imaging along with AI programs that will likely make focused ultrasound an even better treatment tool for physicians and patients.”
Focused Ultrasound Highlights
- In the International session, Toshio Yamaguchi, MD, PhD (Shin-Yurigaoka General Hospital, Kawasaki, Japan) discussed “Focused Ultrasound Therapy in the Brain: Challenges from Japan.” He described his use of tractography for improving focused ultrasound targeting for essential tremor treatments and presented the challenges that anatomic variations in tractography data pose for precise focused ultrasound interventions.
- In the Brain Tumors and FUS session, Kazim Narsinh, MD (University of California–San Francisco), presented a plenary talk on the potential of MRI-guided focused ultrasound to enhance drug delivery, particularly for treating brain tumors. “My plenary talk on focused ultrasound in neuro-oncology was very well received,” said Dr. Narsinh. “We also formed a working group to explore more focused ultrasound projects—there is a lot of interest in the field.” The new focused ultrasound working group that was formed at the meeting aims to foster further neuroradiology research with focused ultrasound.
- In the Transcranial Focused Ultrasound session, Kullervo Hynynen, PhD (Sunnybrook Research Institute) presented “Sculpting Sound: The Physics of Focused Ultrasound and Acoustic Radiation Force Imaging.” Norman Spivak (MD/PhD student at University of California-Los Angeles) presented “Uncharted Territories: The Expanding Role of Brain Focused Ultrasound Neuromodulation.” Razia Sultana, PhD (Johns Hopkins University) and Bhavya Shah, MD (UT Southwestern) presented data showing how nitrous oxide can enhance MRI-guided focused ultrasound for blood-brain barrier opening, potentially increasing the efficacy of drug delivery to the brain. Approximately 100 attendees participated in this session.
- In the Innovations in Image-guided Therapeutics session, Timothy J. Kaufman, MD, MS (Mayo Clinic) discussed the combined use of focused ultrasound and deep brain stimulation for managing movement disorders. Lubdah Shah, MD (the University of Utah) described her team’s promising clinical studies using focused ultrasound to treat back pain.
Scientific Abstracts
Four ASNR abstracts may be of interest to the focused ultrasound community:
203. Neuroimaging-Based, Individualised MR-Guided Focused Ultrasound Thalamotomies by A Boutet, J Germann, A Yang, A Vetkas, C Chow, N Lipsman, A Fasano, M Schwartz, A Lozano at the University of Toronto, Toronto Western Hospital, and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
562. Multimodal Neuroimaging of Focused Ultrasound–Assisted Immunotherapy of Pediatric Brain Cancer by D Gulisashvili, P Anastasiadis, G Qiao, S Madan, A Andrzejewska, L Kalkowski, C Civin, P Walczak, G Woodworth, and M Janowski from the Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, the Department of Neurosurgery, and the Department of Pediatrics and Physiology in the School of Medicine at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD, USA
857. Over Thirty-Five Percent Greater Tremor Improvement to Focused Ultrasound Thalamotomy with Modified Targeting by J Holcomb, D Imphean, F Stewan Feltrin, J Maldjian, and B Shah from UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
955. Enhancement of Dynamic Glymphatic Activity in Alzheimer’s Disease Using Low Intensity Ultrasound by S Jo, J Kim, and B Park from Dongtan Sacred Heart Hospital, Hallym University College of Medicine in Hwaseong and Inha University in Incheon, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea
Search the 2024 Proceedings Book for your own key words and indications.
Technological Advancements
Presentations during the meeting’s opening ceremonies suggested that focused ultrasound may soon benefit several technological advances.
- Magnetic particle imaging (MPI) is a nascent but innovative imaging technology. As a functional imaging method that uses iron oxide nanoparticles, MPI could potentially be used to improve focused ultrasound procedures, particularly for cellular imaging, immune cell efficacy tracking, and the confirmation of drug delivery.
- AI-driven imaging innovations could drastically reduce MRI scan times, allowing for faster focused ultrasound treatment monitoring and improved clinical workflows.
- Virtual reality tools could be used to remotely perform focused ultrasound procedures, hold meetings, or meet with patients.
- Advances in magnetoencephalography could be used for seizure mapping before using focused ultrasound to treat epilepsy and to assist in the treatment of psychological disorders and Alzheimer’s disease.
- Photon-counting computed tomography (CT) is being used to improve spatial resolution, enhance vascular imaging, and monitor cerebrospinal fluid leakages.
Portable MRI manufacturer Hyperfine presented the technology’s mobile capabilities, which could be used to provide imaging after focused ultrasound to free up time in the MR room. It could also be used to capture images 24 hours after treatment to confirm lesion development and for other types of post-procedure scanning that do not require use of the MR suite. The Hyperfine system could also be installed in a mobile vehicle or van.
The NeuroQuant system provides brain segmentation and volumetric analysis for patients with neurodegenerative diseases. This technology has been FDA-approved to perform brain tumor contouring for primary brain tumors.
Industry Participation
Beyond Hyperfine and NeuroQuant, representatives from Insightec, NaviFUS, Brainbox, and Brainsonix each participated in ASNR 2024 or sponsored booths.
Looking Ahead
ASNR’s 2025 Annual Meeting will be held May 17–21 in Philadelphia. Abstract submission is now open, with a final deadline of November 6, 2024.
The Foundation thanks Dr. Narsinh and Mr. Spivak for assistance with this meeting report.
On-Demand content for the 2024 Annual Meeting can be found on the Meeting Website. A photo gallery has also been posted.