What is HIFU Treatment? The Breakdown of High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound Therapy

High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) treatment is an emerging non-surgical therapeutic technique. HIFU uses focused ultrasound energy waves to target and heat deep tissue in the body without damaging surrounding tissue.

This non-invasive treatment is showing promise for various medical applications including cancer, neurological disorders, uterine fibroids, and more. HIFU is also widely used for cosmetic anti-aging procedures.

How Does HIFU Treatment Work?

HIFU delivers concentrated beams of acoustic energy to a precise focal point deep within the body. An ultrasound transducer targets the treatment area, penetrating through the skin and soft tissue without causing damage.

At the focal point below the skin, the ultrasound energy causes a rapid increase in temperature in order to selectively destroy target tissue through coagulation necrosis. Temperatures can exceed 65°C within seconds.

Meanwhile, only minimal heating occurs in the surrounding tissue just millimeters away from the focal point. This spares adjacent structures and minimizes side effects.

The ultrasound beams can be aimed with a submillimeter precision under image guidance. Tissue ablation is achieved quickly in seconds. The transducer may be rotated to target the entire treatment volume.

What Are the Different Applications of HIFU Treatment?

HIFU is currently used or under investigation for a wide variety of therapeutic applications due to its ability to non-invasively ablate diseased tissue at depth.

Treatment of Cancer Tumors

HIFU is being developed as a non-surgical treatment for localized tumors. It can be used to thermally ablate cancerous tissue without radiation.

Current or emerging uses include prostate, breast, liver, pancreatic, bone and brain cancer. HIFU offers targeted tumor destruction with minimal side effects.

Clinical trials demonstrate HIFU’s efficacy against various cancer types. It shows excellent promise but larger scale studies are still needed.

Targeting Neurological Disorders

Focused ultrasound beams can penetrate the intact skull and treat brain disorders without surgery. HIFU precisely targets brain regions involved in movement, neuropsychiatric, and seizure disorders.

By thermally ablating dysfunctional areas, HIFU can help address conditions such as chronic pain, essential tremor, Parkinson’s tremor, OCD, and more. Early research displays encouraging results.

Uterine Fibroids and Adenomyosis

For women with symptomatic uterine fibroids or adenomyosis, HIFU is able to selectively destroy fibroid tissue without harming the surrounding myometrium.

Non-surgical HIFU shrinks fibroids and provides symptom relief while preserving the uterus. For many women, it eliminates the need for invasive surgery.

Cosmetic Anti-Aging Procedures

In aesthetics, HIFU is used non-surgically for skin tightening and lifting effects, especially on the face and neck. The thermal effects stimulate new collagen formation for gradual rejuvenation.

HIFU is a popular alternative to facelifts and surgery. Smooth skin tightening results occur over several months as collagen regenerates.

Emerging Uses

HIFU hemostasis can help stop bleeding during surgeries by coagulating vessels. It is also being studied to enhance drug delivery into the brain by opening the blood-brain barrier.

Researchers continue investigating HIFU for even more applications such as glaucoma, wound healing, atrial fibrillation, abdominal adhesions, and more.

What Does the HIFU Procedure Involve?

HIFU sessions typically last 1-4 hours depending on the size of the targeted area. It is performed as an outpatient procedure under light sedation or anesthesia.

Here’s an overview of the treatment process:

• Imaging (MRI or ultrasound) maps the lesion location.
• The patient’s skin is cleaned and conductive gel applied.
• Using image guidance, the physician targets the area with the HIFU transducer.
• Patients remain awake if sedation is not used, so they can communicate.
• The device delivers ultrasound energy, gradually ablating the tissue.
• Patients may feel some discomfort during ablation. Mild side effects may follow.
• For cancer and neurological uses, one session may suffice. Cosmetic treatments often involve 3-4 sessions.

HIFU is well tolerated with minimal downtime and side effects compared to surgery. The non-invasive approach avoids blood loss, wounds and hospital stays.

How Are HIFU Devices Guided?

Two main imaging modalities guide HIFU therapy: MRI and diagnostic ultrasound.

MRI

• Provides excellent 3D anatomical detail
• Tracks temperature changes in tissue during ablation
• More versatile but involves bulky, expensive equipment

Ultrasound Imaging

• Visualizes general lesion location to target
• Less expensive, widely accessible ultrasound technology
• Cannot monitor treatment response like thermometry MRI

Both modalities allow accurate aiming of the HIFU beam. MRI offers superior treatment mapping while ultrasound is more affordable and portable.

What is the Effectiveness of HIFU Therapy?

Extensive clinical trials display HIFU’s efficacy and safety for most applications. However, large controlled studies with long-term follow up are still required.

Success Against Cancerous Tumors

• 90-95% disease-free survival rates for prostate cancer thus far, similar to traditional treatments
• 83% of breast tumors completely ablated with over 90% survival at 5 years
• Liver cancer trials show 90% success rate before transplantation
• Pancreatic cancer outcomes display excellent local tumor control with minimal adverse events

Benefits for Movement Disorders

• 47% tremor improvement in essential tremor patients
• 66% reduction in tremor scores for Parkinson’s disease
• Chronic pain relief around 30-100%
• 70%+ response rates seen in psychiatric disorders like OCD

Efficacy as a Cosmetic Skin Lift

• 3.5mm average increased dermal thickness from new collagen growth
• 2-3mm measurable skin lifting after series of anti-aging HIFU sessions
• High patient satisfaction and low side effect profile

HIFU continues to demonstrate safety, efficacy and lasting results for most tried applications thus far. More data will further strengthen support.

Conclusion: The Future of HIFU Therapy

HIFU is an extremely promising focused ultrasound technology for non-invasive ablation of target tissue at depth. It has tremendous therapeutic potential with minimal adverse effects.

While more clinical trials are still underway, current research indicates HIFU therapy offers substantial benefits over traditional invasive methods for cancer, brain disorders and cosmetic improvement.

With technological advancements and greater clinical adoption, HIFU is poised to become a mainstream therapy option given its non-invasive approach. It has the versatility to transform how various diseases are managed.