Therapeutic ultrasound

Abstract

The use of ultrasound in medicine is now quite commonplace, especially with the recent introduction of small, portable, and relatively inexpensive, hand-held diagnostic imaging devices. Moreover, ultrasound has expanded beyond the imaging realm, with methods and applications extending to novel therapeutic and surgical uses. Among these applications are tissue ablation, acoustocautery, lipoplasty, site-specific and ultrasound mediated drug activity, extracorporeal lithotripsy, and the enhancement of natural physiological functions such as wound healing and tissue regeneration. A particularly attractive aspect of this technology is that diagnostic and therapeutic systems can be combined to produce totally noninvasive, image-guided, bloodless surgery. This general lecture will review a number of these exciting new applications of ultrasound and address some of the basic scientific questions and future challenges in developing these methods and technologies for general use in our society. We shall particularly emphasize the use of high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) in the treatment of benign and malignant tumors as well as the induction of acoustic hemostasis, especially in organs that are difficult to treat using conventional medical and surgical techniques. [Work supported in part by the NIH, NSBRI, ONR, and DARPA.]