Focused ultrasound is a therapeutic technology that could transform the quality of life and decrease the cost of care for patients with liver failure. This novel technology focuses beams of ultrasound energy precisely and accurately on targets deep in the body without damaging surrounding normal tissue. 

How it Works 
Where the beams converge, focused ultrasound produces one therapeutic effect that is being evaluated currently on a large animal model. The use of high frequency thermal ablation is being tested to see if it can control bleeding which simulates trauma to the liver.  

The primary options for treatment of liver damage are limited, so this could be an alternative to existing options.  

Advantages 

• Focused ultrasound is noninvasive, so it does not carry added concerns like surgical wound healing or infection.  

• Focused ultrasound can reach the desired target without damaging surrounding tissue. 

• It can be repeated, if necessary. 

Clinical Trials 

At the present time, there are no clinical trials recruiting patients for focused ultrasound treatment of liver failure.  

The Foundation updates these pages regularly, but with the increasing number of clinical trials, we want to be sure that our audience has the latest information available. Therefore, we also added the website search information for the above trials. If you click here, it will take you to the latest information available from https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/.  

Regulatory Approval and Reimbursement  

Focused ultrasound treatment for liver failure is not yet approved by regulatory bodies or covered by medical insurance companies.  

Notable Papers 

Fall F, Eisenbrey JR, Tam A, Contreras K, Maxwell A, Vlaisavljevich E, Liu JB, Kuon Yeng Escalante C, Siu Xiao T, Mohammed A, Forsberg F, Goldberg A, Koenig G. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound-guided high intensity focused ultrasound treatment of grade 4 liver lacerations in a swine model. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2025 Dec 1;99(6):955-961. doi: 10.1097/TA.0000000000004737. Epub 2025 Jul 4. PMID: 40611378 

Click here for additional references from PubMed.   

Focused ultrasound is a therapeutic technology that could transform the quality of life and decrease the cost of care for patients with patients suffering from dental tissue demineralization. This novel technology focuses beams of ultrasound energy precisely and accurately on targets deep in the body without damaging the surrounding normal tissue.

How it Works
Where the beams converge, focused ultrasound produces several therapeutic effects that are being evaluated. One of those is the ability for focused ultrasound to clean the tissue without acids or other destructive items that can worsen the demineralization of the tissues. Recent work has also used focused ultrasound in a model that includes calcium-phosphate or hydroxyapatite nanoparticles to show an increased recovery to demineralized tissue.  While significant work has been accomplished, there is still much to be done before this technology will be widely available.

The primary options for treatment of demineralization are limited, and the dentist has to weigh the benefits of using acids or other destructive items to adequately clean the tissue against the worsening effects on the mineralization of the tissue.

Advantages
For certain patients, focused ultrasound could provide a noninvasive alternative to surgery with less risk of complications – such as like surgical wound healing or infection – at a lower cost. Focused ultrasound can reach the desired target without damaging surrounding tissue, and it can be repeated, if necessary.

Clinical Trials

At the present time, there are no clinical trials recruiting patients for focused ultrasound treatment of dental tissue demineralization.

The Foundation updates these pages regularly, but with the increasing number of clinical trials, we want to be sure that our audience has the latest information available. Therefore, we also added the website search information for the above trials. If you click here, it will take you to the latest information available from https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/. 

Regulatory Approval and Reimbursement

Focused ultrasound treatment for dental tissue demineralization is not yet approved by regulatory bodies or covered by medical insurance companies.

Notable Papers

Shrestha B, Rajan SM, Saunders M, Fawzy A. Potential of High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound in Enamel Remineralization. J Dent Res. 2025 Mar 19:220345251323869. doi: 10.1177/00220345251323869. PMID: 40108508 

Rajan SM, Shrestha B, Fawzy A. High-intensity focused ultrasound: an innovative approach for micro-manipulation of demineralized dentine. J Transl Med. 2025 Jan 8;23(1):29. doi: 10.1186/s12967-024-06008-7. PMID: 39780194 

Shrestha B, Maria Rajan S, Aati S, Yusiharni E, Kujan O, Saunders M, Fawzy A. The Synergistic Effect of High Intensity Focused Ultrasound on In-vitro Remineralization of Tooth Enamel by Calcium Phosphate Ion Clusters. Int J Nanomedicine. 2024 Jun 6;19:5365-5380. doi: 10.2147/IJN.S464998. eCollection 2024. PMID: 38859951 

Tran MD, Ngo H, Fawzy A. High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound in Dentistry: A Literature Review. Int Dent J. 2024 Apr 11:S0020-6539(24)00060-1. doi: 10.1016/j.identj.2024.02.004. PMID: 38609759 

Daood U, Fawzy AS. Minimally invasive high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) improves dentine remineralization with hydroxyapatite nanorods. Dent Mater. 2020 Mar;36(3):456-467. doi: 10.1016/j.dental.2020.01.005. Epub 2020 Jan 31. PMID: 32008748

Fawzy AS, Daood U, Matinlinna JP. Potential of high-intensity focused ultrasound in resin-dentine bonding. Dent Mater. 2019 Jul;35(7):979-989. doi: 10.1016/j.dental.2019.04.001. Epub 2019 Apr 16. PMID: 31003759

Click here for additional references from PubMed. 

Focused Ultrasound Therapy

Focused ultrasound is a noninvasive, therapeutic technology with the potential to improve the quality of life and decrease the cost of care for patients with pancreatic cancer. There are two major types of pancreatic cancer, one is the exocrine type, (which is derived from digestive enzymes) with adenocarcinoma being the most common. The other is the neuroendocrine tumors, (also called islet cell tumors), arise from hormone producing cells, which are less frequent. This novel technology focuses beams of ultrasound energy precisely and accurately on targets deep in the body without damaging surrounding normal tissue.

How it Works
Where the beams converge, focused ultrasound can produce a couple of effects. One is ablation, or thermal destruction of tissue. The goal could be complete ablation of the cancer or it can be done partially, and partial ablation may help awaken the immune system for a more generalized response. This ablation can also be targeted at the innervation of the pancreas, to help lessen the pain from the disease. A second approach is to treat the targeted tissue to enable enhanced absorption of chemotherapy. 

Benefits

Current treatment options for pancreatic cancer include combinations of surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, embolization, and ablative methods such as radiofrequency or microwave ablation, yet these still not very effective for many patients. Focused ultrasound can be used alone or in combination with other therapies to treat pancreatic cancer by reducing tumor size and spread and even “debulking” the tumor prior to surgical resection. Focused ultrasound can also decrease the pain often associated with pancreatic cancer by decreasing tumor size and destroying the sensory nerves surrounding the tumor.

Advantages:

• Noninvasive – no incisions, no risk of infection or bleeding, less pain and rapid recovery
• Image-guided – minimal damage to surrounding healthy tissue
• No ionizing radiation – fewer side effects and can be safely repeated
• Initiation of an anti-tumor immune response – destruction of tumor cells leads to exposure of tumor antigens, which can then be recognized and targeted by the body’s immune system
• Directly enhances the effectiveness of immuno-oncology drugs

Regulatory Authorizations

The Model JC system manufactured by Chongqing Haifu has been approved in Europe for palliative treatment in patients with pancreatic cancer.

Focused ultrasound treatment for patients with pancreatic cancer is not universally reimbursed by medical insurers.

Clinical Trials

A clinical trial in the USA, UK and Europe has opened using focused ultrasound to augment the penetration of chemotherapy in patients with non-resectable pancreatic cancer.  

A clinical trial in South Korea is using focused ultrasound prior to chemotherapy in patients with borderline resectable and unresectable pancreatic cancer.  

A clinical trial in Japan is using the Suizenji system to heat the target in patients with pancreatic cancer.

A clinical trial in Stanford, CA is using the Suizenji system to heat the target in patients with pancreatic cancer.

A clinical trial in Spain is using Histotripsy for the treatment of pancreatic adenocarcinoma.  

A clinical trial in Cologne, Germany is using MRI guided, thermal ablation focused ultrasound to treat pancreatic cancer tumors. (German Clinical Trial Registry DRKS00033237) This trial is not listed on Clinical Trials.gov.  

A clinical trial in Bonn, Germany is using ultrasound guided thermal ablation to treat pancreatic cancer tumors.   (German Clinical Trial Registry DRKS00012367) This trial is not listed on Clinical Trials.gov. 

The clinical trial in Norway has been completed.  

The iFOCUS clinical trial in Utrecht has completed its initial part, and the second part should begin in Q3.  

We have learned that there may be locations using the device in an off label fashion to treat patients with Pancreatic Cancer. We do not know who these sites are, but if you are interested, you can contact the manufacturer to ask about this at https://myhistotripsy.com/contact-us/. 

The Foundation updates these pages regularly, but with the increasing number of clinical trials, we want to be sure that our audience has the latest information available. Therefore, we also added the website search information for the above trials. If you click here, it will take you to the latest information available from https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/. 

See a list of treatment sites >
See a list of laboratory research sites >

Preclinical Laboratory Studies

• *Cavitation-related sonodynamic therapy combined with NRF-2 inhibition to improve pancreatic cancer response to chemotherapy via stromal disruption and oxydative stress modulation (Inserm LabTAU)
• *Characterization of a Transesophageal Focused Ultrasound Transducer for Endoscopic Pancreatic Cancer Ablation (Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech Carilion)
• *Combining histotripsy and immunotherapy for the treatment of pancreatic cancer (Institute of Cancer Research)
• *Defining the abscopal effect in pancreatic cancer following focal tumor ablation (Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech Carilion)
• *Enhancing Post-Histotripsy Anti-Tumor Immune Responses and Drug Delivery via Tumor Vascular Normalization in Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma (University of Michigan)
• *Leveraging Focused Ultrasound (FUS) to improve immunotherapy responses in Pancreatic Cancer (University of Oxford)
• *Leveraging focused ultrasound to enhance adoptive T cell therapy efficacy in high-fidelity peritoneal cancer models (University of Virginia Health System)
• *Maximizing systemic anti-tumor immune responses in pancreatic cancer using histotripsy in combination with immunotherapeutic approaches (Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech Carilion)
• *Multimodal analysis of immune response post-FUS in two tumor models (University of Michigan)

*The Focused Ultrasound Foundation is fully or partially funding these projects

Manufacturers

The following manufacturers are active in the field of focused ultrasound and its applications for pancreatic cancer.

• Beijing Yuande Bio-Medical Engineering Co., Ltd. | Beijing, China | www.yuande.com
• Chongqing Haifu Medical Technology Co., Ltd. | Chongqing, China | www.haifu.com.cn/en_index.asp
• EpiSonica Corp. | Hsichu City, Taiwan | www.episonica.com
• IMGT, Co., Ltd. | Seoul, Korea | www.nanoimgt.com
• INSIGHTEC LTD | Tirat Carmel, Israel | www.insightec.com
• Profound Medical Corp. | Mississauga, Ont. Canada | www.profoundmedical.com
• Shanghai A&S Science Technology Development Co., Ltd. | Shanghai, China | www.aishen.com.cn
• SONIRE Therapeutics | Tokyo, Japan | www.sonire-therapeutics.com

Media & Videos

Notable Papers

Suggested Reading: Focused Ultrasound for Pancreatic Cancer  (PDF), July 2019.

Sears O, Zhang H, Blatz N, Cui X, Tsung A. Focused Ultrasound in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma: Mechanisms, Preclinical Evidence, and Emerging Clinical Applications. Cancers (Basel). 2026 Feb 10;18(4):574. doi: 10.3390/cancers18040574. PMID: 41749827 

Muragaki Y, Sofuni A, Okamoto J, Satoh T, Iseki H, Ikuta S, Asai Y, Yoshizawa S, Umemura SI, Itoi T. First-in-Human Safety and Efficacy Study on Combination of High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound Sonication and Micellar Nanoparticle-Encapsulated Epirubicin, K-912: A Novel Sonodynamic Therapy for the Treatment of Refractory Abdominal Cancers. Ultrasound Med Biol. 2025 Nov 28:S0301-5629(25)00419-3. doi: 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2025.10.011. PMID: 41318252 

Stepanechko M, Gamache A, Padilla F, Nemshick M, Kitelinger L, Conarroe C, DeWitt M, Hossack JA, Bullock TNJ. Single Treatment Boiling Histotripsy Focused Ultrasound Ablation Neither Negates nor Enhances the Activity of α-CD40 in a Pancreatic Cancer Model. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng. 2025 Nov;72(11):3404-3418. doi: 10.1109/TBME.2025.3568594. PMID: 40372859 

Gannon J, Paul T, Imran KM, Edwards M, Ziemlewicz T, Trusiano B, Moore T, Youngs C, Powar M, Keith A, Lopez V, Ivester H, Ruger L, Clark S, Coutermarsh-Ott S, Eden K, Vidal-Jove J, Grumbir J, Johnsen E, Laeseke P, Amaral J, Stopek J, Allen IC, Vlaisavljevich E. Non-Invasive Pancreas Ablation Using Histotripsy: Pre-clinical Safety Study in an In Vivo Porcine Model. Ultrasound Med Biol. 2025 Oct 3:S0301-5629(25)00295-9. doi: 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2025.07.026. PMID: 41046199 

Kim D, Hong J, Kim D, Sim W, Cho A, Gil G, Moon H, Lee HJ, Son K. Comparison of mechanical and thermal effects of focused ultrasound on drug delivery efficiency and toxicity for pancreatic cancer treatment. Ultrasonics. 2025 Oct 16;159:107861. doi: 10.1016/j.ultras.2025.107861. PMID: 41124727 

Liu Y, Chen M, Liu L, Shen Z, Wu B. High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) in Pancreatic Cancer-Related Pain: Current Evidence and Future Directions. Ultrasound Med Biol. 2025 Jul 15:S0301-5629(25)00186-3. doi: 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2025.05.032. PMID: 40670261 

Rohfritsch A, Drainville A, Beye B, Renault G, Gannon J, Woodacre J, Chen Y, Barrot L, Lagonnet S, Lafond M, Prat F, Lafon C. Development of an Endoscopic Ultrasound Device for Delivering Microbubble-Mediated Cavitation in the Pancreas: Characterization and Preclinical In-Vivo Results. IEEE Trans Ultrason Ferroelectr Freq Control. 2025 Aug 6;PP. doi: 10.1109/TUFFC.2025.3596530. PMID: 40768451 

Yamaguchi T, Kitahara S, Matsui A, Okamoto J, Muragaki Y, Masamune K. HIFU induces reprogramming of the tumor immune microenvironment in a pancreatic cancer mouse model. Med Mol Morphol. 2025 Jan 28. doi: 10.1007/s00795-025-00419-1. PMID: 39870899 

Ran L, Yang W, Chen X, Zhang J, Zhou K, Zhu H, Jin C. High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound Ablation Combined With Pharmacogenomic-Guided Chemotherapy for Advanced Pancreatic Cancer: Initial Experience. Ultrasound Med Biol. 2024 Oct;50(10):1566-1572. doi: 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2024.06.013. Epub 2024 Jul 18. PMID: 39025741 

Yao Y, Zheng Y, Wu M, Gao Y, Yu Q, Liu M, Luo X, Wang R, Jiang L. CD133-targeted multifunctional nanomicelles for dual-modality imaging and synergistic high-intensity focus ultrasound (HIFU) ablation on pancreatic cancer in nude mice. J Mater Chem B. 2024 May 22. doi: 10.1039/d4tb00091a. PMID: 38775254 

Liu Y, Ji Y, Zhu J, Zhu L, Zhu Y, Bao Z, Zhao H. Repeated highintensity focused ultrasound combined with iodine125 seed interstitial brachytherapy offers improved quality of life and pain control for patients with advanced pancreatic cancer: A 52patient retrospective study. Oncol Lett. 2024 Feb 16;27(4):157. doi: 10.3892/ol.2024.14290. eCollection 2024 Apr. PMID: 38426153 

Gray MD, Spiers L, Coussios CC. Sound speed and attenuation of human pancreas and pancreatic tumors and their influence on focused ultrasound thermal and mechanical therapies. Med Phys. 2024 Feb;51(2):809-825. doi: 10.1002/mp.16622. Epub 2023 Jul 21. PMID: 37477551 

Nowak S, Kloth C, Theis M, Marinova M, Attenberger UI, Sprinkart AM, Luetkens JA. Deep learning-based assessment of CT markers of sarcopenia and myosteatosis for outcome assessment in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer after high-intensity focused ultrasound treatment. Eur Radiol. 2024 Jan;34(1):279-286. doi: 10.1007/s00330-023-09974-6. Epub 2023 Aug 12. PMID: 37572195  

Zhou K, Strunk H, Dimitrov D, Vidal-Jove J, Gonzalez-Carmona MA, Essler M, Jin C, Mei Z, Zhu H, Marinova M. US-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound in pancreatic cancer treatment: a consensus initiative between Chinese and European HIFU centers. Int J Hyperthermia. 2024;41(1):2295812. doi: 10.1080/02656736.2023.2295812. Epub 2023 Dec 30. PMID: 38159562 

Click here for additional references from PubMed. 

Focused ultrasound is a noninvasive, therapeutic technology with the potential to improve the quality of life and decrease the cost of care for patients with irritable bowel syndrome. This novel technology focuses beams of ultrasound energy precisely and accurately on targets deep in the body without damaging surrounding normal tissue.

How it Works
Where the beams converge, focused ultrasound produces neuromodulation of the nervous tissue that regulates the bowel, potentially enabling irritable bowel syndrome to be treated without surgery. There is also a group in Egypt that is using HIFU with cavitation and vibrations to help elevate the tissue temperature and produce rapid cell necrosis in the targeted tissues. While significant preclinical work has been accomplished, there is still much to be done before this technology will be widely available.

Advantages
The primary options for treatment of irritable bowel syndrome include medication, which is often ineffective.

For certain patients, focused ultrasound could provide a non-invasive alternative that may be more effective that conventional treatments. Focused ultrasound can reach the desired target without damaging surrounding tissue, and can also be repeated, if necessary. Focused ultrasound use and/or neuromodulation does not appear to have the side effects commonly found with systemic medications.

Clinical Trials

A clinical trial in Egypt is using focused ultrasound with cavitation to treat patients with Inflammatory Bowel Syndrome. 

The Foundation updates these pages regularly, but with the increasing number of clinical trials, we want to be sure that our audience has the latest information available. Therefore, we also added the website search information for the above trials. If you click here, it will take you to the latest information available from https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/. 

Regulatory Approval and Reimbursement

Focused ultrasound treatment for irritable bowel syndrome is not yet approved by regulatory bodies or covered by medical insurance companies.

Notable Papers

Jensen LJ, Loch FN, Kamphues C, Shahryari M, Marticorena Garcia SR, Siegmund B, Weidinger C, Kühl AA, Hamm B, Braun J, Sack I, Asbach P, Reiter R. Feasibility of in vivo magnetic resonance elastography of mesenteric adipose tissue in Crohn’s disease. Quant Imaging Med Surg. 2023 Aug 1;13(8):4792-4805. doi: 10.21037/qims-23-41. Epub 2023 Jun 28. PMID: 37581033  

Akhtar K, Hirschstein Z, Stefanelli A, Iannilli E, et al. Non-invasive peripheral focused ultrasound neuromodulation of the celiac plexus ameliorates symptoms in a rat model of inflammatory bowel disease. Exp Physiol. 2021 Jan 29. doi: 10.1113/EP088848.

Cotero V, Miwa H, Graf J, Ashe J, Loghin E, Di Carlo D, Puleo C. Periphereal Focused Ultrasound Neuromodulation. J Neurosci Methods. 2020 Jul 15;341:108721. doi:10.1016/j.jneumeth.2020.108721. Epub 2020 May 6.

Click here for additional references from PubMed.

Focused ultrasound is a noninvasive, therapeutic technology with the potential to improve the quality of life and decrease the cost of care for patients with liver fibrosis. This novel technology focuses beams of ultrasound energy precisely and accurately on targets deep in the body without damaging surrounding normal tissue.

How it Works
Where the beams converge, focused ultrasound produces two therapeutic effects that are being evaluated. One mechanism is precise ablation (thermal destruction of tissue). A second mechanism is to use focused ultrasound to enhanced the delivery of genetic therapy to treat liver fibrosis. This technique was successful in preclinical studies but has not yet been translated to the clinic.

Advantages
The primary options for treatment of liver fibrosis include medication and may eventually include liver transplantation.

For certain patients, focused ultrasound could provide a noninvasive alternative to surgery with less risk of complications – such as surgical wound healing or infection – at a lower cost. It can reach the desired target without damaging surrounding tissue and is repeatable, if necessary.

Clinical Trials

At the present time, there are no clinical trials recruiting patients for focused ultrasound treatment of liver fibrosis.

The Foundation updates these pages regularly, but with the increasing number of clinical trials, we want to be sure that our audience has the latest information available. Therefore, we also added the website search information for the above trials. If you click here, it will take you to the latest information available from https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/. 

Find a Treatment Site

Search for a treatment center or clinical trial near you.

Regulatory Approval and Reimbursement

Focused ultrasound treatment for liver fibrosis is not yet approved by regulatory bodies or covered by medical insurance companies.

Notable Papers

Joung C, Heo J, Pahk KJ, Pahk K. Boiling histotripsy exhibits anti-fibrotic effects in animal models of liver fibrosis. Sci Rep. 2024 Jul 2;14(1):15099. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-66078-x. PMID: 38956264 

Payen T, Palermo CF, Sastra SA, Chen H, Han Y, Olive KP, Konofagou EE. Elasticity mapping of murine abdominal organs in vivo using harmonic motion imaging (HMI). Phys Med Biol. 2016 Aug 7;61(15):5741-54. doi: 10.1088/0031-9155/61/15/5741. Epub 2016 Jul 12.

Anzidei M, Napoli A, Sandolo F, Marincola BC, Di Martino M, Berloco P, Bosco S, Bezzi M, Catalano C. Magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound ablation in abdominal moving organs: a feasibility study in selected cases of pancreatic and liver cancer. Cardiovasc Intervent Radiol. 2014 Dec;37(6):1611-7. doi: 10.1007/s00270-014-0861-x. Epub 2014 Mar 5.

Huang G, Zhang H, Bai R. R Bai. Advances in ultrasound-targeted microbubble–mediated gene therapy for liver fibrosis. Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B Volume 7, Issue 4, July 2017, Pages 447-452. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsb.2017.02.004

Rauch M, Marinova M, Schild HH, Strunk H. High intensity focused ultrasound for the treatment of advanced liver cancer. Dig Liver Dis. 2015 Nov;47(11):989-90. doi: 10.1016/j.dld.2015.06.016. Epub 2015 Jul 6.

Click here for additional references from PubMed.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared HistoSonics’ novel therapy platform – called Edison^TM – to treat liver tumors. Edison^TM uses histotripsy to noninvasively destroy tissue in the liver and is the first and only such platform available in the US. This is also the first time the use of histotripsy has earned regulatory approval worldwide. Read More

Focused Ultrasound Therapy

Focused ultrasound is a rapidly evolving, noninvasive, therapeutic technology with the potential to improve the quality of life and decrease the cost of care for patients with liver tumors. This novel technology focuses beams of ultrasound energy precisely and accurately on targets deep in the body without damaging surrounding normal tissue.

How it Works
Where the beams converge, focused ultrasound produces several therapeutic effects that are being evaluated.

One mechanism is the production of precise ablation (thermal destruction of tissue). This destruction can be done to completely destroy the target or to partially treat it, and partial treatment is believed to stimulate the patient’s immune response, which may have a broader impact. 

Another mechanism is the use of mechanical (non-thermal) histotripsy to destroy the tumor. 

A third mechanism is to use focused ultrasound to cause hyperthermia which enables the local release and absorption of a therapeutic that is contained in the blood stream. 

A fourth mechanism is to use Boiling Histotripsy to destroy the targets in the liver. This has the advantage that it may be useful as a ‘bridging’ technique to treat the patient and may also help in the regrowth of non-fibrous tissue, as the patient is waiting for a liver transplant. While this has had success in animal models, it has not yet been transferred to human treatment.  

Advantages
The primary options for treatment of liver tumors include surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, localized destruction of the tumor tissue (via radiofrequency ablation, alcohol injection, cryosurgery, or laser photocoagulation), or combination of two or more of these options. The long-term solution for primary liver cancer is often liver transplantation.

For certain patients, focused ultrasound could provide a noninvasive alternative to surgery with less risk of complications – such as surgical wound healing or infection – at a lower cost. It can reach the desired target without damaging surrounding tissue and is repeatable, if necessary. Focused ultrasound can also enhance the chemotherapy dose for the target, with less impact to the rest of the patient. 

Clinical Trials

A clinical trial in Singapore will be using the Histosonics system to ablate liver tumors in patients with both primary and secondary liver disease.  

A clinical trial in the UK is recruiting patients with colorectal cancer and metastasis to the liver. It uses focused ultrasound to activate a microbubble preparation designed to improve the penetration of chemotherapy to the liver.  

An observational clinical trial is being done on patients treated with the Histosonics’ Edison device looking for long term outcomes for the patients treated. 

A clinical trial is treating colorectal cancer metastasis with to the liver with the Histosonic’s Edison device in Ohio. 

A clinical trial registry is treating patients at UCSF, and looking at the use of histotripsy for outcomes measurements after standard clinical use of this procedure.   

The Foundation updates these pages regularly, but with the increasing number of clinical trials, we want to be sure that our audience has the latest information available. Therefore, we also added the website search information for the above trials. If you click here, it will take you to the latest information available from https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/.

See a list of treatment sites > 
See a list of laboratory research sites >

Find a Treatment Site

Search for a treatment center or clinical trial near you.

Regulatory Approval and Reimbursement

In October 2023, the US Food and Drug Administration cleared HistoSonics’ Edison device to noninvasively treat liver tumors using histotripsy. 

A focused ultrasound system has been approved in China, Russia, Europe, and Korea for treatment of liver cancer.

To the best of our knowledge, the use of focused ultrasound to treat liver cancer is not yet widely reimbursed by medical insurance.

Notable Papers

Yang F, Li B, Huang G, Luo W, Zhang J, Liu L, Yang W, Li N. Construction and validation of a prognostic model for 1 year all-cause mortality risk in patients with colorectal cancer liver metastases after HIFU treatment. Clin Transl Oncol. 2026 Mar 24. doi: 10.1007/s12094-026-04327-3. PMID: 41874948 

Centner CS, Choi R, Georgiades CS, Yarchoan M, Weiss CR. Thermal and Nonthermal Liver Ablation: Mechanistic Foundations, Clinical Implementation, Immunologic Trial Design, and Artificial Intelligence. Radiology. 2026 Mar;318(3):e250263. doi: 10.1148/radiol.250263. PMID: 41874295 

Falk KL, Speidel MA, Minesinger GM, Foltz GM, Lee FT Jr, Ziemlewicz TJ, Wagner MG, Laeseke PF. Injectable radiopaque targets for cone-beam CT guided histotripsy. Int J Hyperthermia. 2026 Dec;43(1):2642172. doi: 10.1080/02656736.2026.2642172. Epub 2026 Mar 12. PMID: 41821321 

Ng HHL, Chan VW, Howell L, Shiwani T, Zhong J, Brandon J, Samson A, Chandler J, Mclaughlan J, Wah TM. Early Adoption of Image-Guided Histotripsy Therapy in Interventional Oncology: Challenges and Opportunities in the UK. Br J Radiol. 2026 Mar 12:tqag047. doi: 10.1093/bjr/tqag047. PMID: 41818689 

Gu K, Rhim H, Lee MW, Han S. Ultrasound-guided ablation of hepatocellular carcinoma: a review of its past, present, and future. Ultrasonography. 2026 Mar;45(2):95-106. doi: 10.14366/usg.25264. Epub 2026 Feb 27. PMID: 41802321 

Zhang B, Iqbal MS, Yan Y, Wang H, Wang X, Zhang Y, Guo B. Next-generation dynamic and combinatorial nanotherapies for liver cancer: mechanisms, current advances and future perspectives. J Nanobiotechnology. 2026 Feb 7. doi: 10.1186/s12951-026-04102-0. PMID: 41654811 

Breuer JA, Mendiratta-Lala M, Lee FT Jr, Lalani Z, Poe L, Caoili EM, Imagawa DK, Chiang J, Raman SS, Hinshaw JL, Abi-Jaoudeh N. VASCULAR INJURY AFTER HISTOTRIPSY: A CASE SERIES OF HEMORRHAGE AND PSEUDOANEURYSM COMPLICATIONS IN HUMAN PATIENTS. J Vasc Interv Radiol. 2026 Feb 6:108576. doi: 10.1016/j.jvir.2026.108576. PMID: 41655899 

Nelson AT, Smith A, Curley CT, Kelly B, Ganesh AN, Peterson D, Fabyanic E, Kostuk E, Weber T, Engel EA. Systemic Administration of AAV9-G266A with Focused Ultrasound Enables Robust Brain Transduction with Minimal Liver Transduction. Hum Gene Ther. 2026 Feb 8:10430342251411044. doi: 10.1177/10430342251411044. PMID: 41656626 

Falk KL, Wagner MG, Doucette S, Schluter T, Multu A, Kisting AL, Speidel M, Foltz GM, Ziemlewicz TJ, Lee FT Jr, Laeseke PF. Hepatic Histotripsy after Contrast Enhanced Ultrasound; Evaluation of Safety and Efficacy in an In Vivo Swine Model. J Vasc Interv Radiol. 2026 Feb 26:108610. doi: 10.1016/j.jvir.2026.108610. PMID: 41763601 

Yu Y, Yan X, Gui Y, Lv K, Jiang Y. Prospects for clinical translation of histotripsy in liver applications: a systematic review based on preclinical studies. Quant Imaging Med Surg. 2026 Jan 1;16(1):92. doi: 10.21037/qims-2025-1137. Epub 2025 Dec 31. PMID: 41522007 

Sarkar AR, Sahoo R, Jana NR. Ultrasound-Responsive Perfluorohexane Nanodroplets for Cell-Targeted Histotripsy and Therapy. ACS Appl Bio Mater. 2026 Feb 2;9(3):1311-1321. doi: 10.1021/acsabm.5c01590. Epub 2026 Jan 8. PMID: 41505765 

Anthony GJ, Sammet S, Souris JS, Bader KB. Histotripsy-mediated reactive oxygen species generation in vitro. Ultrasonics. 2026 Mar;159:107885. doi: 10.1016/j.ultras.2025.107885. Epub 2025 Nov 9. PMID: 41240873 

Yang Y, Zhang H, Shen Y, Yang F, Zhao D, Lin Y, Huang G. High-intensity focused ultrasound in the multimodal treatment of colorectal cancer liver metastases: A case report. Oncol Lett. 2026 Jan 7;31(3):98. doi: 10.3892/ol.2026.15451. eCollection 2026 Mar. PMID: 41551343 

Wehrle CJ, Sayed Ahmed AF, Knott E, Hong H, Uysal M, Schlegel A, Berber E, Walsh RM, Kim J, Aucejo F, Kwon DCH. The first full year of histotripsy for liver tumors: Local tumor control and preliminary oncologic efficacy. Surgery. 2025 Dec 5:109898. doi: 10.1016/j.surg.2025.109898. PMID: 41353073 

Rohfritsch A, Griffon A, Olhagaray E, Biénassis A, Barrot L, Muleki-Seya P, Melodelima D. Impact of focused ultrasound on the cellular network of liver tissue: a new perspective for thermal lesion detection. Phys Med Biol. 2025 Dec 29;71(1). doi: 10.1088/1361-6560/ae2bd8. PMID: 41380289 

Wehrle CJ, Burns K, Mabud T, Ahmed AS, Alassas M, Juarez T, Ton J, Kim J, Aucejo F, Berber E, Ong E, Silk M, Hewitt B, Kwon DCH. Local Tumor Control of Liver Tumors After Histotripsy: A Preliminary National Multicenter Study. JCO Oncol Pract. 2025 Dec 16:OP2500550. doi: 10.1200/OP-25-00550. PMID: 41401400 

Wong BO, Fan CM, Shyn PB, Wang J. Vascular complications following histotripsy of hepatocellular carcinoma. Int J Hyperthermia. 2025 Dec;42(1):2603108. doi: 10.1080/02656736.2025.2603108. Epub 2025 Dec 16. PMID: 41403239 

Burns K, Juarez TM. Histotripsy for portal vein tumor thrombus in a patient with hepatocellular carcinoma: a case report. Front Oncol. 2025 Dec 2;15:1721814. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1721814. eCollection 2025. PMID: 41409237 

Gao Z, Yao L, Wei X, Wang S, Cao W, Deng W, Li X, Zhang Z, Wang S, Zhang Y, Li M, Xie Y. Progress in the Application of Nanobiotechnology in the Ablation Therapy of Hepatic Carcinoma. Int J Nanomedicine. 2025 Dec 15;20:15109-15133. doi: 10.2147/IJN.S551980. eCollection 2025. PMID: 41424453 

Mundhava M, Vadodariya B, Jangid P, Shah A. Histotripsy Compared With Microwave Ablation, Radiofrequency Ablation, and Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy for the Treatment of Liver Tumors. Cureus. 2025 Dec 25;17(12):e100088. doi: 10.7759/cureus.100088. eCollection 2025 Dec. PMID: 41458348 

Xie S, Ran L, Yang W, Zhou K, Jin C, Zhu H. Efficacy and safety of high-intensity focused ultrasound ablation under general anesthesia in older hepatocellular carcinoma patients. Front Oncol. 2025 Dec 11;15:1702332. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1702332. eCollection 2025. PMID: 41458596 

Haddad A, Vauthey JN. Are We Advancing Local Control of Liver Tumors With Histotripsy? Ann Surg. 2025 Dec 1;282(6):917-918. doi: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000006810. Epub 2025 Jun 25. PMID: 40560672 

Song M, Thomas GPL, Khokhlova VA, Wang YN, Totten SI, Sapozhnikov OA, Schade GR, Khokhlova T. Doppler-based assessment of boiling histotripsy-induced volumetric tissue liquefaction in vivo. Ultrasonics. 2025 Dec;156:107775. doi: 10.1016/j.ultras.2025.107775. Epub 2025 Jul 29. PMID: 40752065 

Mabud TS, Vergara M, Du J, Moore WH, Liu S, Bertino F, Taslakian B, Wolfgang C, Hewitt DB, Silk M. Histotripsy of Liver Metastases: Short-Term Safety and Imaging Findings. Cardiovasc Intervent Radiol. 2025 Nov;48(11):1594-1603. doi: 10.1007/s00270-025-04183-8. Epub 2025 Sep 28. PMID: 41016946 

Chan AC, Lau VW, Wong GT, Chan YW, Man K, Ng LY, Ma H, Husain A, Ng IO. Prospective analysis on the outcomes of histotripsy for primary and metastatic liver tumours. Int J Surg. 2025 Nov 10. doi: 10.1097/JS9.0000000000003856. PMID: 41217432 

Zhu Q, Ran R, Chen Q, Ren J, Qin Y, Zhang Y, Jiang M, Feng C, Zhu H, Shu S. Impact of valsalva maneuver duration on brain function in patients undergoing high-intensity focused ultrasound liver ablation: a randomized controlled trial. Int J Surg. 2025 Nov 13. doi: 10.1097/JS9.0000000000003885. PMID: 41231626 

Jimenez-Soto C, Byrne MM, Loszko A, Endo Y, Nair A, Hernandez-Alejandro R, Oppenheimer D, Rubens D, Clark A, Bekki Y, Tomiyama K. First FDA approved experience with histotripsy for liver cancer management. Int J Surg. 2025 Nov 19. doi: 10.1097/JS9.0000000000004070. PMID: 41255274 

Yeats E, Lu N, Sukovich J, Xu Z, Hall TL. Aberration correction expands the treatment envelope for histotripsy in the liver. Phys Med Biol. 2025 Nov 20. doi: 10.1088/1361-6560/ae222c. PMID: 41265042 

Foltz GM, Kisting AL, Falk KL, Golden E, Laeseke P, Cho CS, Ziemlewicz T, Hinshaw JL, Koepsel EK, Lee FT Jr. An Emerging Paradigm Shift in Liver Ablation: The Potential for Clinical Impact of Nonthermal Ablation Technologies. J Vasc Interv Radiol. 2025 Dec;36(12):1868-1875. doi: 10.1016/j.jvir.2025.09.005. PMID: 41276365 

Kim S, Majumdar A, Waters JP, Topper GV, Ghanem Y, Elbezanti W, Song S, Hong YK. Immunoresistant to immunosensitive – Histotripsy’s unique potential to overcome resistance. Crit Rev Oncol Hematol. 2025 Nov 27;217:105054. doi: 10.1016/j.critrevonc.2025.105054. PMID: 41317817 

Ziemlewicz TJ, Critchfield JJ, Mendiratta-Lala M, Wiggermann P, Pech M, Serres-Créixams X, Lubner M, Wah TM, Littler P, Davis CR, Narayanan G, White SB, Ahmed O, Collins ZS, Parikh ND, Planert M, Thormann M, Torzilli G, Solbiati LA, Cho CS. The #HOPE4LIVER Single-arm Pivotal Trial for Histotripsy of Primary and Metastatic Liver Tumors: One-year Update of Clinical Outcomes. Ann Surg. 2025 Dec 1;282(6):908-916. doi: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000006720. Epub 2025 Apr 9. PMID: 40201962

Click here for additional references from PubMed.

Video courtesy of Insightec.

Focused ultrasound is a noninvasive, therapeutic technology with the potential to improve the quality of life and decrease the cost of care for patients with tumors of the esophagus. This novel technology focuses beams of ultrasound energy precisely and accurately on targets deep in the body without damaging surrounding normal tissue.

How it Works
Where the beams converge, focused ultrasound produces several therapeutic effects that are being evaluated. One mechanism is the production of precise ablation (thermal destruction of tissue) with the goal of either completely or partially destroying the tumor tissue. Partial treatment is believed to stimulate the patient’s immune response, which may have a broader impact. Another mechanism of action is to pre-treat the tumor with pulsed focused ultrasound which may enable improved therapeutic absorption.

Advantages
The primary option for treatment of esophageal tumors is invasive surgery, although radiation, chemotherapy or other pharmaceuticals may also be used.

For certain patients, focused ultrasound could provide a noninvasive alternative to surgery with less risk of complications – like surgical wound healing or infection – at a lower cost. Focused ultrasound can reach the desired target without damaging surrounding tissue, and it could also enhance the chemotherapy dose for the target, with less impact to the rest of the patient. It can also be repeated, if necessary.

Clinical Trials

At the present time, there are no clinical trials recruiting patients for focused ultrasound treatment of esophageal cancer.

The Foundation updates these pages regularly, but with the increasing number of clinical trials, we want to be sure that our audience has the latest information available. Therefore, we also added the website search information for the above trials. If you click here, it will take you to the latest information available from https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/. 

Regulatory Approval and Reimbursement

Focused ultrasound treatment for head and neck tumors is not yet approved by regulatory bodies or covered by medical insurance companies.

Notable Papers

Palmeri ML, Frinkley KD, Zhai L, Gottfried M, Bentley RC, Ludwig K, Nightingale KR. Acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) imaging of the gastrointestinal tract. Ultrason Imaging. 2005 Apr;27(2):75-88. doi: 10.1177/016173460502700202.

Click here for additional references from PubMed.

Focused ultrasound is a noninvasive, therapeutic technology with the potential to improve the quality of life and decrease the cost of care for patients with gastric tumors. This novel technology focuses beams of ultrasound energy precisely and accurately on targets deep in the body without damaging surrounding normal tissue.

How it Works
Where the beams converge, focused ultrasound produces several therapeutic effects that are being evaluated. One mechanism is the precise ablation (thermal destruction of tissue) that can be done to completely destroy the target or to partially treat it. Partial treatment is believed to stimulate the patient’s immune response, which may have a broader impact. Another mechanism is to produce a targeted delivery of therapeutics to the tumor. This allows delivery of a higher level of chemotherapy precisely to the targeted tissue, while limiting the effects for the rest of the body.

Advantages
The primary options for treatment of gastric tumors invasive surgery or medications.

For certain patients, focused ultrasound could provide a noninvasive alternative to surgery with less risk of complications – such as surgical wound healing or infection – at a lower cost. It can reach the desired target without damaging surrounding tissue and is repeatable, if necessary.

Clinical Trials

At the present time, there are no clinical trials recruiting patients for focused ultrasound treatment of gastric cancer.  

The Foundation updates these pages regularly, but with the increasing number of clinical trials, we want to be sure that our audience has the latest information available. Therefore, we also added the website search information for the above trials. If you click here, it will take you to the latest information available from https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/. 

Find a Treatment Site

Search for a treatment center or clinical trial near you.

Regulatory Approval and Reimbursement

Focused ultrasound treatment for gastric tumors has not been approved by regulatory bodies or covered by medical insurance companies.

Notable Papers

Zhao C, Shen Q, Qin L. Ultrasound-Guided Microbubble-Assisted Delivery of Radiopharmaceutical Agents for Gastric Tumor Control. Cancer Biother Radiopharm. 2026 Mar 28:10849785261426673. doi: 10.1177/10849785261426673. PMID: 41902647 

Zhou B, He N, Hong J, Yang T, Ng DM, Gao X, Yan K, Fan X, Zheng Z, Chen P, Zheng J, Zheng Q. HIFU for the treatment of gastric cancer with liver metastases with unsuitable indications for hepatectomy and radiofrequency ablation: a prospective and propensity score-matched study. BMC Surg. 2021 Jul 12;21(1):308. doi: 10.1186/s12893-021-01307-y.

Liu Z, Ran H, Wang Z, Zhou S, Wang Y. Targeted and pH-facilitated theranostic of orthotopic gastric cancer via phase-transformation doxorubicin-encapsulated nanoparticles enhanced by low-intensity focused ultrasound (LIFU) with reduced side effect. Int J Nanomedicine. 2019 Sep 18;14:7627-7642. doi: 10.2147/IJN.S212888. eCollection 2019.

Cheng CS, Chen L, Xie J, Chen Z. Multimodality palliative treatment with transarterial chemoembolization and high-intensity focused ultrasound for gastric leiomyosarcoma multiple liver metastasis pain: A case report. Medicine (Baltimore). 2019 Sep;98(39):e17328. doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000017328.

Click here for additional references from PubMed.

Focused ultrasound is a noninvasive, therapeutic technology with the potential to improve the quality of life and decrease the cost of care for patients with inflammatory bowel disease, which includes both Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. This novel technology focuses beams of ultrasound energy precisely and accurately on targets deep in the body without damaging surrounding normal tissue.

How it Works
Where the beams converge, focused ultrasound produces a neuromodulatory effect that stimulates the celiac plexus, with the goal of increasing the enteric cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway. While significant preclinical work has been accomplished, there is still much to be done before this technology will be widely available.

Advantages
The primary options for treatment of inflammatory bowel disease include medication and or possibly invasive surgery.

For certain patients, focused ultrasound could provide a noninvasive alternative to surgery with less risk of complications – such as surgical wound healing and infection – at a lower cost. Focused ultrasound can reach the desired target without damaging surrounding tissue, and can also be repeated, if necessary. 

Clinical Trials

At the present time, there are no clinical trials recruiting patients for focused ultrasound treatment of inflammatory bowel disease.

The Foundation updates these pages regularly, but with the increasing number of clinical trials, we want to be sure that our audience has the latest information available. Therefore, we also added the website search information for the above trials. If you click here, it will take you to the latest information available from https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/. 

Regulatory Approval and Reimbursement

Focused ultrasound treatment for inflammatory bowel disease is not yet approved by regulatory bodies or covered by medical insurance companies.

Notable Papers

Akhtar K, Hirschstein Z, Stefanelli A, Iannilli E, et al. Non-invasive peripheral focused ultrasound neuromodulation of the celiac plexus ameliorates symptoms in a rat model of inflammatory bowel disease. Exp Physiol. 2021 Jan 29. doi: 10.1113/EP088848.

Click here for additional references from PubMed.

Focused ultrasound is a noninvasive, therapeutic technology with the potential to improve the quality of life and decrease the cost of care for patients with malignant obstructive jaundice. This novel technology focuses beams of ultrasound energy precisely and accurately on targets deep in the body without damaging surrounding normal tissue.

How it Works
Where the beams converge, focused ultrasound produces precise ablation (thermal destruction of tissue) enabling malignant obstructive jaundice to be treated noninvasively.

Advantages
The primary options for treatment of malignant obstructive jaundice include endoscopic retrograde cholangio-pancreatography (ERCP) and endoscopic ultrasound (EUS).

For certain patients, focused ultrasound could provide a noninvasive alternative to surgery with less risk of complications – such as surgical wound healing or infection – at a lower cost. It can reach the desired target without damaging surrounding tissue and is repeatable, if necessary.

Clinical Trials

At the present time, there are no clinical trials recruiting patients for treatment of malignant obstructive jaundice.

The Foundation updates these pages regularly, but with the increasing number of clinical trials, we want to be sure that our audience has the latest information available. Therefore, we also added the website search information for the above trials. If you click here, it will take you to the latest information available from https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/. 

Regulatory Approval and Reimbursement

Focused ultrasound treatment for malignant obstructive jaundice is not yet approved by regulatory bodies or covered by medical insurance companies.

Notable Papers

Niu S1, Cheng L, Qiao Y, Fu YF, Cao C. Combined Stent Insertion and High-intensity Focused Ultrasound Ablation for Patients With Malignant Obstructive Jaundice. Surg Laparosc Endosc Percutan Tech. 2016 Oct 25.

Wang K, Zhu H, Meng Z, Chen Z, Lin J, Shen Y, Gao H. Safety evaluation of high-intensity focused ultrasound in patients with pancreatic cancer. Onkologie. 2013;36(3):88-92. doi: 10.1159/000348530.

Click here for additional references from PubMed.