MRI-guided ultrasound blasts liver cancer
Liver cancers could be destroyed without the need for invasive surgery, thanks to technology being developed as part of a European project.
The EU-funded TRANS-FUSIMO project, being led by the Fraunhofer Institute for Medical Image Computing MEVIS in Bremen, is developing a technique in which high intensity focused ultrasound is used to target specific areas of the liver.
High intensity focused ultrasound uses sound waves to target a precise location in the body, generating a hot spot that can destroy diseased tissue.
Until now, however, the method has only been approved for use in treating a limited number of conditions, such as prostate cancer, bone metastases, and uterine fibroids.
Treating organs that move as the patient breathes, such as the liver, is much more difficult, according to Professor Dr Tobias Preusser at Fraunhofer MEVIS.
“The liver is located directly below the diaphragm, which means that with every breath the patient takes the liver moves down and up,” said Preusser. “So as the ultrasound transducer focuses this acoustic wave into the body, the target would constantly move out of and into focus.”
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