Research

Histotripsy was invented and developed in our lab. Histotripsy uses microsecond-length ultrasound pulses to mechanically break down the target tissue into acellular debris. We studied the mechanisms underlying histotripsy. As histotripsy uses microsecond-length pulses at extremely high pressure, specialized instrumentation is required. We have designed and built specialized instrumentation [XZ2] , including ultrasound transducers and driving electronics, to enable histotripsy. We have also made many technical advancements including aberration correction and treatment monitoring to ensure the safety and efficacy of histotripsy. Most recently, we have focused on developing histotripsy for various clinical applications, including treatment of cancer, brain diseases, and cardiovascular diseases. Our research has led to formation of HistoSonics (www.histosonics.com), a company based in Minneapolis and Ann Arbor that is commercializing histotripsy for oncological applications. By working with HistoSonics, our research has led to a Phase I trial on benign prostatic hyperplasia treatment (NCT01896973) [1], a Phase I trial on liver cancer treatment (NCT03741088) [2,3], and multi-center clinical trials on liver cancer treatment in the U.S. (NCT04572633) and Europe (NCT04573881).

References:

[1]  Schuster, T. G., Wei, J. T., Hendlin, K., Jahnke, R. & Roberts, W. W. Histotripsy Treatment of Benign Prostatic Enlargement Using the Vortx Rx System: Initial Human Safety and Efficacy Outcomes. Urology, (2018).

[2]  Vidal-Jove, J., Serres, X., Vlaisavljevich, E., Cannata, J., Duryea, A., Miller, R., Merino,
X., Velat, M., Kam, Y., Bolduan, R., Amaral, J., Hall, T., Xu, Z., Lee, F. T., Jr. & Ziemlewicz, T. J. First-in-man histotripsy of hepatic tumors: the THERESA trial, a feasibility study. Int. J. Hyperthermia 39, 1115-1123, (2022).

[3]  Vidal-Jove, J., Serres-Creixams, X., Ziemlewicz, T. J. & Cannata, J. M. Liver Histotripsy Mediated Abscopal Effect-Case Report. IEEE Trans Ultrason Ferroelectr Freq Control 68, 3001-3005, (2021).