Saturday, December 1, 2012

Destroying tumours with ultrasound

A new technique using high-intensity ultrasound makes it possible to remove tumours in organs that move.

Although it might sound like science fiction, the following scenario could soon become reality: an elderly man has a lethal tumour of the liver, which cannot be operated on in the normal way. The tumour is too close to major blood-vessels, and it is not cert
ain that the patient would survive such a serious operation.

Instead, he is placed in a magnetic resonance (MR) apparatus and a large ultrasonic probe is placed on his abdomen.

Within a few seconds, three-dimensional images of his abdominal cavity and liver appear on the computer screen. With millimetre accuracy, the doctors set up a therapy plan that will transmit high-intensity focused ultrasound into the tumour with the aid of the large ultrasound probe and the 3D MR map. When they press the button, ultrasound generated by several hundred elements is focused into the tumour, heating the spot to 85o Celsius, until all the cancerous cells are destroyed.

In a few minutes the operation is over, and the patient can get up and walk out of the operating theatre.

Image: What the SINTEF scientists want to do is to visualize and track the movements of soft tissue by means of 4D, i.e. three-dimensional images in real time. (Illustation: SINTEF).
Read more at http://sciencenordic.com/destroying-tumours-ultrasound
Destroying tumours with ultrasound

A new technique using high-intensity ultrasound makes it possible to remove tumours in organs that move.

Although it might sound like science fiction, the following scenario could soon become reality: an elderly man has a lethal tumour of the liver, which cannot be operated on in the normal way. The tumour is too close to major blood-vessels, and it is not certain that the patient would survive such a serious operation.

Instead, he is placed in a magnetic resonance (MR) apparatus and a large ultrasonic probe is placed on his abdomen.

Within a few seconds, three-dimensional images of his abdominal cavity and liver appear on the computer screen. With millimetre accuracy, the doctors set up a therapy plan that will transmit high-intensity focused ultrasound into the tumour with the aid of the large ultrasound probe and the 3D MR map. When they press the button, ultrasound generated by several hundred elements is focused into the tumour, heating the spot to 85o Celsius, until all the cancerous cells are destroyed.

In a few minutes the operation is over, and the patient can get up and walk out of the operating theatre.

Image: What the SINTEF scientists want to do is to visualize and track the movements of soft tissue by means of 4D, i.e. three-dimensional images in real time. (Illustation: SINTEF).
Read more at http://sciencenordic.com/destroying-tumours-ultrasound

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