Two Seattle-based companies, Verasonics, a leader in research ultrasound, and Sonic Concepts, Inc., an innovator of high-performance transducers, have collaborated to design and build a new ultrasound-guided focused ultrasound (USgFUS) platform to advance biomedical research. The platform, called HIFUPlex, combines Verasonics’ Vantage systems with Sonic Concepts’ transducers and promises premium quality, innovation, and versatility.
“This is a productive partnership for our research community,” says the Foundation’s Director of Operations, Emily White, MD. “First, it has the potential to shorten the research timeline because researchers potentially will spend less time tinkering around to get things to work properly. Grant project extensions due to technical difficulties are frustrating when our whole mission is to accelerate the timeline of focused ultrasound adoption.”
Jessica Foley, the Foundation’s Chief Scientific Officer adds, “Having these solutions on the market, if widely adopted by researchers, makes it possible to compare different studies for the first time, which could be really interesting. Up to now, most researchers have custom designed research systems, which has made comparison of results difficult.”
Verasonics’ Vantage 64 LE, 128, and 256 systems are now available in high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) configurations, which enable both energy delivery and imaging through the same transmitters for flexible and comprehensive exploration with USgFUS. HIFUPlex can be used across a wide range of application areas, including tissue destruction, drug delivery, neurostimulation, neuromodulation, immunomodulation, stem cell honing, and many others.
“The Vantage system has proven to enhance ultrasound research enabling the expansion in transducer design and development. We are excited to team up with Verasonics in leveraging the Vantage research system with our transducer technology, providing researchers with premium ultrasound-guided focused ultrasound solutions,” said Kyle Morrison, Sonic Concepts’ President.
HIFUPlex offers:
- Five standard ultrasound system and transducer configurations to meet a range of customer requirements, including variable depths and frequencies, for research and development
- An easy upgrade pathway from any Vantage configuration and from non-USgFUS solutions using Sonics Concepts’ Transducer Power Output™ (TPO™) system
- A graphical user interface (GUI), with interleaving scripts that control the major parameters of FUS and imaging
“The Sonic Concepts team is considered expert in designing and manufacturing cutting-edge, top-of-the line therapeutic transducers,” said Lauren Pflugrath, President and CEO of Verasonics. “Together, we will deliver the HIFUPlex Portfolio, enabling high quality and broad flexibility in focused ultrasound research that can meet a wide range of requirements and budgetary constraints. We are looking forward to a collaboration with Sonic Concepts that advances and benefits the growing FUS community of scientists.”
The two companies launched HIFUPlex at the International Symposium on Therapeutic Ultrasound (ISTU) May 31 to June 2 in Nanjing, China.