Saturday, December 11, 2004

ExAblate 2000

Filed under: Oncology , Radiology

The bronze prize in The Wall Street Journal's 2004 Technology Innovation Awards went to InSightec Image Guided Treatment Ltd. of Tirat Carmel, Israel for ExAblate 2000, a nonsurgical way to destroy masses by focusing ultrasound waves on them.

From company's website:

ExAblate uses Magnetic Resonance guided Focused Ultrasound (MRgFUS) to treat tumors inside the body. During tumor treatment, the device focuses ultrasound energy, similar to how a magnifying glass focuses light, to heat and destroy tumor cells inside the body while sparing tissue outside the tumor.

Simultaneously, Magnetic Resonance images are used to locate anatomy and indicate temperature changes inside the body allowing for a precise non-invasive surgical procedure.

ExAblate 2000 works in conjunction with a General Electric Healthcare MRI scanner. In about 10 minutes, the scanner room can be converted from a diagnostic suite to a suite for non-invasive image guided therapy.

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