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QUANTITATIVE IMAGING & TREATMENT WITH FOCUSED ULTRASOUND
Phone: () -
Email: DQUIGLEY@FOCUS-SURGERY.COM
DESCRIPTION (Verbatim from Applicant's Abstract): A vital component of a
successful clinical application of HIFU surgery is an accurate assessment of
the treated tissue volume. It would be most beneficial if the HIFU-created
lesion could be visualized and controlled in real-time so that treatment
protocols could be modified to accommodate local and variable conditions in
individual patients. The goal of this proposal is to upgrade the Sonablate
device that would guide and control HIFU surgery by analyzing backscattered
ultrasound signals. In our Phase I in vitro studies, several signal processing
algorithms were successfully developed that measured changes in tissue
parameters due to HIFU exposures. In this Phase II application, we propose (1)
to utilize the signal processing algorithms developed in Phase I to separate
the effects of cavitation and heat during HIFU surgery, (2) to perform a series
of in vitro experiments to validate our signal and image processing algorithms,
(3) to modify the Sonablate device to incorporate these lesion-imaging and
control algorithms in real time, (4) to perform a series of in vivo experiments
in animals with the modified Sonablate that would test the effectiveness of
these algorithms, and (5) to perform a human feasibility study based on safe
and efficacious results from the animal studies.
PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATION:
Prostate cancer is becoming an ever-more-frequent malady for man. Current annual market
for treatment of prostate cancer in the United States is estimated around $5 billion. Currently,
Focus Surgery Inc. manufactures the Sonablate TM system, which makes use of HIFU
technology to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). To extend the application of this
system to treat prostate cancer, a reliable non-invasive feedback mechanism is necessary.
The current proposal directly addresses this challenge. Successful completion of this
project will open the enormous market of prostate cancer treatment for our Sonablate TM device.
* Information listed above is at the time of submission. *