InSightec

In the first such clinical trial in the United States, physician-scientists with the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) are investigating the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided focused ultrasound to open the blood-brain barrier. The trial will be conducted with patients undergoing brain cancer surgery at the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC).

A multidisciplinary clinical team at Nicklaus Children's Hospital used magnetic-resonance guided focused ultrasound – a form of incisionless surgery – to ablate a centrally located brain tumor in a young patient experiencing tumor-associated seizures. The first-of-its-kind procedure is part of a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved research study designed to demonstrate the safety and feasibility of focused ultrasound for the treatment of benign intracranial tumors in children and young adults between 8 and 22 years of age.

Insightec Ltd. announced that the Exablate Prostate system received CE Mark for treating locally-confined prostate cancer with MR-guided Focused Ultrasound (MRgFUS).

April 23, 2014 — Researchers in Zurich, Switzerland, have successfully used focused ultrasound for the first time to noninvasively ablate part of a recurrent glioma tumor through a patient’s intact skull. The procedure was performed to assess the feasibility and safety of focused ultrasound in treating brain tumors; it was not intended to demonstrate efficacy. The procedure was conducted using InSightec's Exablate Neuro system.

InSightec Ltd. announced that the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), a federal agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), has created a new billing code for magnetic resonance (MR) guided focused ultrasound treatment of pain palliation of metastatic bone lesions and has established a Medicare payment rate for hospital outpatient departments.