Unmet NeedTumor ablation therapy is an approach to remove tumor tissue by minimally invasive surgical procedures. In such procedures, an interventional tool is directed to a target location within the patient’s body that is either close to, or within the tumor tissue. Energy is then delivered to the targeted site to destroy the tumor tissue. Interventional ablation tools utilize radio frequency, lasers, microwaves, and other forms of heat energy to rapidly deliver sufficient energy to destroy tumor cells. During these heat-induced tumor ablation treatments, guidance and ablation process monitoring are crucial, especially when the operation requires high accuracy. However, due to the low contrast between ablated and untreated tissue in ultrasound images, conventional ultrasound imaging is usually not effective for this monitoring. Other imaging modalities including CT and MRI can be incorporated with the ablation therapy and provide effective image guidance and monitoring; however, the requirements of these high-end imaging devices make this approach unaffordable or inaccessible for many patients. The radiation dose and magnetic field compatibility requirements also prevent these methods from being widely used. Therefore, there remains a need for thermal dose monitoring systems for tumor ablation therapy. The safety and accuracy of these procedures could be greatly improved if the operator would be able to monitor the temperature and thus the delivered thermal dose in real time.
Technology OverviewResearchers at Johns Hopkins University recently developed a novel ultrasound monitoring system for ablation therapy. The disclosed invention uses ultrasound tomography to measure the changes in the speed of sound and intensity during minimally-invasive ablation heating and obtain real-time, three-dimensional thermal maps. Said thermal maps are then used to reconstruct temperature change through a deep learning algorithm and guide thermal ablation of soft tissue. Using this system, the inventors envision a novel treatment technique for many soft tissue targets, such as uterine fibroids, wherein diagnostic ultrasound is used to locate the tumor, focused ultrasound is used to heat and destroy tumor tissue, and ultrasound receivers on the far side of the tumor are used to monitor the treatment progression, providing real-time feedback. Such a treatment modality would enable safe, effective, and inexpensive non-invasive thermal therapy without the need for MRI, the current standard monitoring modality.
Stage of DevelopmentThe inventors have filed for a provisional patent to provide protection for the invention and have continued to develop the monitoring system. They currently are adapting the system to current hardware and creating a device for eventual commercialization.
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