High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) in Norwood, Massachusetts (MA)

Ultrasound imaging, or sonography, is medical procedure that uses low frequency sound waves to map out the body’s organ systems by using sound. Think of it as a kind of “bio sonar,” where broad sound waves bounce off organs instead of ships and provide much clearer images. Despite the similarity in name, high-intensity focused ultrasound works by using focused beams of high frequency radio waves as a method to eliminate cancerous or otherwise diseased soft tissues. They are often used together to map a route and provide guidance for HIFU targeting.

How is HIFU used?

HIFU is classified as a type of hyperthermia therapy, a type of medical treatment that exposes body tissue to higher temperatures to kill cancerous cells. HIFU is essentially identical to radiofrequency ablation, a procedure that uses heat to close problematic veins such as varicose veins, though it treats a wider spectrum of disease. It is a non-invasive procedure used to address uterine fibroids and multiple types of cancer including:

• Renal cancer 
• Liver cancer
• Pancreatic cancer
• Bladder cancer

For prostate cancer, a rectal probe is used (as high-frequency radio waves cannot pass though solid objects or gases like air) where the sound waves are then focused into prostate to kill the tumor. In some cases, the entire prostate and prostatic urethra are collapsed in the process, however the urethra regenerates due to having epithelial cells. Historically speaking, the earliest usage of HIFU has its roots in treating prostate cancer.

What are the benefits of HIFU?

Since HIFU uses focused energy, it allows doctors to pinpoint and destroy specific tumors or parts of large tumors with the help of ultrasound imaging.

Once a pathway to the tumor is determined, sonographers target diseased tissue and destroy it with highly-focused ultrasound energy. Typically, this type of procedure is done with machines capable of generating high thermal energy, where the sound waves are emitted directly into the targeted tissues. This raises the temperature of the affected organ to up to 85 degrees Celsius. Practitioners actively avoid going above that threshold to prevent any damage to surrounding tissues due to liquid boiling.

Unlike chemotherapy which uses a mixture of debilitating chemicals to treat cancer intravenously, HIFU does not have to run through the body extensively and will not render patients with nausea or hair loss. It offers patients fast pain relief as well.

Because it is non-surgical, it is an outpatient procedure (usually completed in one to three hours) and allows patients to return to their normal routine immediately. As a specialist treatment option, patients will need a referral from their general physician; it is an alternative to those who have exhausted other techniques. 

What are the risks?

The risks are minimal, though like any medical operation, it is not devoid of its limitations and risks. Scar tissue is problematic for this procedure because its density hinders the pathways for the treatment to take effect in the affected area. HIFU is most effective on single tumors (or parts of larger tumors), so patients with metastasized cancer must seek other treatments. Alternatively, HIFU cannot treat brain or lung cancers as it cannot penetrate solid bone or air.

Though rare, it can cause skin burns and collateral tissue damage due to the usage of high-frequency radio waves. This is because the body absorbs higher frequency waves more readily than it does with those on the lower end of the electromagnetic spectrum. Since the skin is the first to come into contact with the concentrated radiation, it is the first to take the intensity of heat.

To find urologists in your area for HIFU treatment, consult our directory to find a doctor near you.