Robotic HIFU Is Now One Step Closer For Prostate Cancer

Amazing!  I wrote about this technology last year I think.  Now we have a way to destroy cancer in the prostate gland with thermal ablation through focused ultrasound.  I am so happy the normally bureaucratic people in charge of the FDA have allowed us to really investigate high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU).  Now let's use a cattle prod on the FDA to let Americans use the ultrasound contrast mediums available in the USA namely: (Optison and Definity) to reveal the results of the treatment of prostate cancer with HIFU.  There is another contrast medium used overseas called Levovist. The research goal here is to find places in the prostate that are necrotic, versus the areas that are still living. They are trying to get FDA approval for marketing a safe medium here in the USA.  I wish them well.  

I am flying home tomorrow morning from Maryland where I did some intense training for the National Institute of Health this week. You bet it is on my resume.  I have met many good people where I taught some high level ultrasound techniques.  Bless you all here in Maryland.  

EDAP TMS of Vaulx-en-Velin, France received CE Mark approval for its Focal•One robotic High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) system for non-invasive treatment of prostate cancer.

The system overlays and fuses 3D MR imaging data with that captured using ultrasound. The tumor is contoured within the system’s software and then attacked using ultrasound. The combination of MRI and live ultrasound allows for real-time guidance of the energy beam during therapy.

Blessings.  Thanks SonoWorld

http://www.medgadget.com/2013/06/focal%E2%80%A2one-robotic-high-intensity-focused-ultrasound-for-prostate-cancer-gets-green-light-in-eu.htmlhttp://www.medgadget.com/2013/06/focal%E2%80%A2one-robotic-high-intensity-focused-ultrasound-for-prostate-cancer-gets-green-light-in-eu.html

Research: National Institute of Health....WIN!!!!!

I am in Maryland now.  I am lecturing at a facility here, and my jaw has dropped.  Pictured here is one research building I will not name.  This image is public domain I hope, I grabbed it off Google.  This building, has an artistic style that makes me proud.  Frank L. Wright would like it. My post is one of honor and altruism.  The research is all in the name of American health and security.  I am loathe to say much because what they do is for the good of Americans.  Be assured, the NIH is doing a great job.  The people I am interacting with are so caring and kind.  I am pretty much speechless.  America has some great programs going in regards to health care.  I will be home next week.  Blessings to America.  Thank You NIH employees for making my job a very good experience.  Thanks  TJW

Ultrasound machines are available used nowadays.  Many practices are paranoid of what the OBAMA care act will bring to the table.  The used market is a great place to purchase a machine, if one is savvy and smart.  Echo machines are in high demand as cardiologists resort to less over head when it comes to diagnostic cardiac imaging.  Buyer beware.  Always check out a re-sellers credentials and look into the insurance that these companies provide for defective equipment.  The following article deals with veterinary medical machines, but can and does apply to main-stream machines.

Patrick A. Jackson, an Internet-based ultrasound salesman who defrauded medical providers including veterinarians around the United States and beyond, was sentenced in Maryland’s Howard County Circuit Court Tuesday to 12 years in prison. However, all 12 years of the sentence were suspended, enabling Jackson to avoid incarceration.

Jackson’s lawyer, Richard G. Berger, said his client was able to stay out of prison by paying full restitution to his victims. “He was able to come up, thank God, with the money. Obviously, he would have been facing prison time if he had not,” Berger told the VIN News Service by telephone.

Thanks Sonoworld

http://news.vin.com/VINNews.aspx?articleId=27510

ARDMS Issued A Patent For New Testing Technology

The ARDMS has patented a virtual computer program that allows an applicant to adjust parameters associated with an ultrasound image in an attempt to asses the applicants knowledge of ultrasound physics.  I believe this is a great step which may trickle down to other tests in many professions including those outside of ultrasound.  The candidate is able to adjust parameters associated with images on the computer through the secure internet connection to allow testing of the candidates skills in manipulating image settings simulating real life medical situations.

See the press release here:   http://www.ardms.org/files/downloads/Press%20Releases/Press_Release_-_ARDMS_Announces_Patent_Award_-_May_29_2013.pdf

Thanks ARDMS

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Always Scan Where It Hurts

To Sonographers.  Always scan the area that the patient says they have pain.  When we do DVT studies we look at the major vessels of the lower extremities, and many of us stop at the knee.  I have found many hematomas, and ruptured ligaments below the knee when I have been asked to to do a routine venous ultrasound.  Do not forget Baker's cysts behind the knee.  And do not forget to scan below the knee for other pathologies.  Blessings.  TW

Sonography The New Gold Standard For Hernias?

I have been seeing patients with vague abdominal pain for many years.  The ultrasound machine is a versatile engine that we are just tapping into regarding its diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities.  Many times I have been asked to see patients with vague abdominal pain.  I always ask them where it hurts.  Message to sonographers.  Always scan where it hurts.  Here is a great article that bolsters my message.  Look for the finer things with a high frequency probe.  Be aware of the stuff that is close to the probe.  Always use the Valsalva maneuver to provoke a hernia.  Document it.

Ultrasound as Gold Standard for Hernia Diagnosis?

Group finds It Better Than CT; But Will It Be Widely Adopted?

By Christina Frangou
Surgeons from Vanderbilt University are recommending that dynamic abdominal sonography for hernia (DASH) replace computed tomography (CT) as the gold standard for the radiographic identification and characterization of incisional hernia.
“The DASH examination is an accurate alternative to the CT scan for diagnosing abdominal wall hernias, with additional benefits of no radiation exposure and instant bedside interpretation,” concluded Benjamin K. Poulose, MD, MPH, assistant professor of general surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tenn., and his colleagues in a report published in the March edition of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons (216:447-453).


Thanks Sono World and general surgery news.

Peace.

Bugs Hear Better Than Bats

Here is a great one!  Moths can hear better than the NSA!  That current news about the wiretapping by the US government is disconcerting enough, but it might not just be the ghost of J. Edgar Hoover you need to worry about.  Moths clock in at having the most sensitive hearing for any creature (That I know of) on earth.  I am one for trivia, so this will work well in my lectures.  Use this article for your next current events/science argument with your drinking buddies.

Many moths have evolved sensitive hearing that can pick up the ultrasonic probes of bats that want to eat them. But one species comes pre-adapted for anything that bats might bring to this evolutionary arms race. Even though its ears are extremely simple — a pair of eardrums on its flanks that each vibrate four receptor cells — it can sense frequencies up to 300 kilohertz, well beyond the range of any other animal and higher than any bat can squeak.

“A lot of previous work has suggested that some bats have evolved calls that are out of the hearing range of the moths they are hunting. But this moth can hear the calls of any bat,” says James Windmill, an acoustical engineer at the University of Strathclyde, UK, who discovered the ability in the greater wax moth (Galleria mellonella). Hisstudy is published in Biology Letters.

Thanks SA and Sonoworld

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=moth-smashes-ultrasound-hearing-record

New Ultrasound Procedure For Treating Pain

This is an interesting article I ran across.  It seems focused ultrasound may alleviate pain associated with bone tumors by burning out the nerve endings where the tumor is invading.  It seems this is another use for HIFU (high intensity focused ultrasound).  Perhaps this technology can be used in pancreatic pathologies where pain is omnipotent?  Let's wait and see.

CHICAGO, IL (May 29, 2013)—A high-dose of ultrasound targeted to painful bone metastases appears to quickly bring patients http://www.sciencecodex.com/new_technique_alleviates_painful_bone_metastases-113165relief, and with largely tolerable side effects, according to new research presented by Fox Chase Cancer Center scientists at the 49th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology on Monday, June 3.

During the procedure, known as MR-guided focused ultrasound, doctors direct a concentrated beam of energy to specific nerve endings that are causing pain in bone metastases. These patients typically have a significant amount of discomfort—half of study participants rated their pain at least a 7 out of 10—but within a handful of days, most said they felt significant relief.

Thanks Sonoworld and ScienceCodex

http://www.sciencecodex.com/new_technique_alleviates_painful_bone_metastases-113165