Newswise — Five years in the making, the first of several “Centers of Excellence” planned by the Focused Ultrasound Surgery Foundation will open this October at the University of Virginia, following a Center dedication ceremony on September 14th.
Its mission: to become a leader in translational (or applied) and clinical research, training and patient care, employing MR-guided Focused Ultrasound.
“The University is proud to be a partner in helping to turn a ‘big idea’ into a world-class facility,” comments Dr. Tim Garson, Provost at the University of Virginia. “This will become the leading center for translational research, education and patient care in the new and rapidly evolving field of MR-guided Focused Ultrasound.”
Focused Ultrasound is a breakthrough technology that combines MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) with ultra-high frequency sound waves. Together, they enable doctors to treat tumors and other conditions non-invasively – ingeniously using beams of high-frequency sound instead of a scalpel or radiation therapy.
The new UVA Center will provide treatment for women with uterine fibroids, the first application of the Focused Ultrasound technology to receive FDA approval. In the future it will also conduct clinical trials on uterine fibroids and fertility; Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy; liver, brain, breast and prostate tumors; and pain from bony metastasis.
It took some $8 million to get the Center up and running. Of this, $3.1 million was committed by the Foundation, and $4 million by the Commonwealth of Virginia. The other partners, who made in-kind contributions, were InSightec, the manufacturer of the ultrasound equipment being used; and GE Healthcare, which makes the MR imaging equipment.
Best-selling author John Grisham, who serves on the Board of Directors of the Focused Ultrasound Surgery Foundation, foresees a major role for UVA’s new Center of Excellence in accelerating research in the new technology and raising levels of care.
“On behalf of the Foundation’s board,” Mr. Grisham adds, “I want to express our thanks to the many individuals and organizations who have contributed their energy, ideas and generous financial support. UVA’s Center will play a major role in helping Focused Ultrasound fulfill its potential for improving the lives of millions.” The far-ranging program of the Center will bring together UVA clinicians and scientists from a number of disciplines – including biomedical engineering, neurosurgery, surgery, radiology, cardiology, radiation oncology, neurology; urology and gynecology.
The idea behind Focused Ultrasound, if not the technology, is simple. High-frequency sound beams – up to a thousand of them – are directed at a target site. Each individual beam, guided by MRI, passes harmlessly through healthy tissue. But where they converge, at a tumor or other target site, they generate just enough heat to destroy it – much as sunbeams focused by a magnifying glass can burn a hole in a leaf.
Neal Kassell, MD, professor of neurosurgery at the University of Virginia, established the Focused Ultrasound Surgery Foundation and has been a champion of this technology since realizing its importance in 2004.
“The mission of the Foundation is to develop new applications and to accelerate the worldwide adoption of Focused Ultrasound,” Dr. Kassell explains. “By creating Centers of Excellence we can make this happen sooner – and thereby reduce the death, disability and suffering of untold numbers of patients.”
About The Focused Ultrasound Surgery Foundation
The Charlottesville based Focused Ultrasound Surgery Foundations activities include: funding translational and clinical research, providing fellowships for training physicians and scientists, hosting symposia and workshops, maintaining online informational resources, and establishing new centers of excellence. For more information please visit www.fusfoundation.org
About Focused Ultrasound
Focused Ultrasound is a disruptive technology that is poised to revolutionize the treatment of a wide variety of medical disorders by serving as the ultimate in minimally invasive surgery; an alternative to radiation therapy; the means for precisely delivering drugs in high concentrations to the point where they are needed, avoiding systemic toxicity; and, dissolving blood clots and restoring circulation.
Focused Ultrasound holds the potential to non-invasively treat breast, prostate, liver, and other benign and malignant tumors; to convert metastatic cancer from a lethal disease to a manageable, chronic disorder; reverse the disabling and life threatening neurological deficits from stroke; to alleviate the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, and chronic pain; and to address a host of other disorders ranging from heart disease to diabetes.
The procedure can be performed on an outpatient basis, does not require general anesthesia or incisions, results in minimal discomfort and few complications, and allows rapid recovery.
Interviews available by arrangement:
Neal Kassell, MDProfessor of Neurosurgery, University of VirginiaFounder and Chairman, Focused Ultrasound Surgery Foundation
John GrishamAuthorMember of the Board of Directors, Focused Ultrasound Surgery Foundation
Contacts:
Anne Hooff Payne, Ross & Associates 434-977-7607 or 434-244-8481
Rolf TaylorFocused Ultrasound Surgery Foundation434-806-3880
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