Ultrasound is no longer just for baby photos. A new wave of research is using it to fight disease by concentrating sound energy at a specific point. Doctors can now target and destroy tissue without even making an incision. This technique, known as focused ultrasound, is quietly leading us into a new era of non-surgical cancer treatment.
This technology has already proven effective in treating neurological diseases such as Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease. mood disordersand scientists are rapidly expanding its use in oncology. More and more research is showing how focused ultrasound can destroy tumors, defeat metastases, and even improve the effectiveness of other cancer treatments such as cancer immunotherapy.
Advancing Ultrasound Technology for Tissue Manipulation
Research into the potential of ultrasound began early. In 1940, scientists discovered that concentrating ultrasound waves in a targeted area could heat and destroy tissue, similar to focusing sunlight through a magnifying glass. Although researchers have seen the potential of ultrasound to treat a number of diseases, the technique needs to be greatly improved.
To overcome the tissue surrounding the target area and absorb any ultrasound, researchers began using large, advanced ultrasound transducers to electronically control and focus the sound beam, combined with detailed visualization of the anatomy of the target area. With these advances, doctors will finally be able to apply sound waves exactly where they are needed, explained Richard J. Price, a professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Virginia. Saving.
Advances in imaging and acoustic physics have moved focused ultrasound from theory to therapy. Abundance clinical trials They are now studying its potential to treat dozens of diseases, ranging from rare brain diseases to cancer. Some of the most promising results involve using sound waves to help drugs reach the brain more effectively, trigger immune responses, and destroy resistant tumors.
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Targeting tumors using ultrasound
One of the most interesting roles of focused ultrasound is in cancer immunotherapy, which trains the body's own immune system to fight tumors. Because some cancers, such as breast, pancreatic and brain tumors, are difficult to target solely with immunotherapy because they do not generate a strong immune response, adding ultrasound could make a difference.
TO exploding tumors with precisely targeted sound wavesResearchers can break them down into smaller pieces that go to nearby lymph nodes. There, immune cells encounter the fragments and learn to recognize and attack the cancer. Essentially, ultrasound helps “teach” the immune system what to look for.
What's approved?
The results so far are promising. According to the Focused Ultrasound Foundation, clinical trials are testing focused ultrasound on several types of cancer, including melanoma and brain tumors. Outside the US, the method has already been approved for the treatment of breast and pancreatic cancer, and in 2023 The FDA has approved a related ultrasound technique called histotripsy for liver tumors..
Ongoing trials indicate that this approach is generally safe and has few complications. While scientists continue to refine the technology, many believe we've only scratched the surface of what focused ultrasound can do, offering us a future in which treating cancer could mean no surgery, no scars, and no hospital stay at all.
This article does not contain medical advice and should be used for informational purposes only.
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