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

How it Works 

Where the beams converge, focused ultrasound produces therapeutic ablation of the targeted tissue.  

The primary options for treatment of sebaceous hyperplasia include medication or invasive surgery.  

For certain patients, focused ultrasound could provide a non-invasive alternative to surgery with less risk of complications and lower cost.  

Advantages 

• Focused ultrasound is non-invasive, 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 sebaceous hyperplasia.  

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 sebaceous hyperplasia is not yet approved by regulatory bodies or covered by medical insurance companies. 

Notable Papers 

Woźniak B, Sauer N, Pogorzelska-Antkowiak A, Dzięgiel P, Calik J. Treatment of Sebaceous Hyperplasia by High-Frequency Focused Ultrasound (HIFU): A Comprehensive Exploration with Clinical Insights. J Clin Med. 2025 Feb 16;14(4):1305. doi: 10.3390/jcm14041305. PMID: 40004835  

Calik J, Zawada T, Bove T, Dzięgiel P, Pogorzelska-Antkowiak A, Mackiewicz J, Woźniak B, Sauer N. Healing Process after High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound Treatment of Benign Skin Lesions: Dermoscopic Analysis and Treatment Guidelines. J Clin Med. 2024 Feb 6;13(4):931. doi: 10.3390/jcm13040931. PMID: 38398246  

Click here for additional references from PubMed.   

Focused ultrasound is a rapidly evolving, therapeutic technology that could transform the quality of life and decrease the cost of care for patients with fractures, especially displaced fractures of bone that are difficult to heal. 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. The use of low intensity focused ultrasound has been evaluated for several different bone fractures, and it has been found to help in the restoration of fractures in the bone. This is similar to a non-focused, low intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) that is FDA approved and is marketed under the name of Exogen (https://www.exogen.com/en). We expect that evaluations using focused ultrasound to see if it furthers the benefit compared to existing devices.  

The primary options for treatment of fracture healing include medication and, in some cases, invasive surgery.  

For certain patients, focused ultrasound could provide a non-invasive alternative to surgery with less risk of complications and lower cost.  

Advantages 

• Focused ultrasound is non-invasive, 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 bone fracture healing.  

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 bone fracture healing is not yet approved by regulatory bodies or covered by medical insurance companies. 

Notable Papers 

Yeingst TJ, Helton AM, Rawnaque FS, Arrizabalaga JH, Ravnic DJ, Simon JC, Hayes DJ. Focused Ultrasound-Mediated Release of Bone Morphogenetic Protein 2 from Hydrogels for Bone Regeneration. Gels. 2025 Feb 6;11(2):120. doi: 10.3390/gels11020120. PMID: 39996663 

Palanisamy P, Alam M, Li S, Chow SK, Zheng YP: Low-intensity pulsed ultrasound stimulation for bone fractures healing: a review. J Ultrasound Med. 2022, 41:547-63 

Borole A, Trubiano J, Viqueira M, Kalahasti K, Stamos T, Kirschenbaum D, Katt BM.Cureus  Intrinsic and Extrinsic Methods for Augmenting Fracture Healing in the Hand and Wrist. 2024 Dec 2;16(12):e74972. doi: 10.7759/cureus.74972. eCollection 2024 Dec. PMID: 39744288  

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 the many types of malignant sarcomas. There are two large groups of sarcomas: osteosarcoma and soft tissue.  

Osteosarcoma (also called bone sarcoma) develops in the bones or cartilage. There are many different types of sarcomas, but common ones include: osteosarcoma, chondrosarcoma and Ewing sarcoma.  

Soft tissue sarcomas develop in the muscle, fat, nerves, blood vessels or connective tissue. Common soft tissue sarcomas are angiosarcoma, fibrosarcoma, leiomyosarcoma, liposarcoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, and undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma.  

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 is the use of thermal ablation, in which the energy does not harm the local tissue, but at the point of ultrasound beam convergence, the target gets very hot and leads to localized tissue destruction. Another technique uses mechanical histotripsy in a non-thermal way to disrupt and lead to a slurry of cellular debris from the targeted tissue. There are several other ways that focused ultrasound can be configured to deliver treatment for this disease.   

The primary options for treatment of sarcoma often includes medication and invasive surgery, and at times, amputation.  

For certain patients, focused ultrasound could provide a noninvasive alternative to surgery with less risk of complications and lower cost.   

Advantages 

• Focused ultrasound is non-invasive, 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 

There is a clinical trial for those with undifferentiated, pleomorphic sarcoma in California.  

There is a clinical trial for those with a wide variety of soft tissue sarcomas (including all of these: malignant fibrous histiocytoma, undifferentiated (pleomorphic) sarcoma, fibrosarcoma and fibromyxoid sarcoma (fibroblastic sarcomas), leiomyosarcoma, liposarcoma, malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor, retroperitoneal sarcoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, and synovial sarcoma).  

Regulatory Approval and Reimbursement  

Focused ultrasound treatment for sarcoma is not approved by regulatory bodies and is not likely to be covered by medical insurance companies.  

Notable Papers 

Vickers ER, Ruger LN, Hay AN, Luong NTC, Kett JS, Kooi SV, Coutermarsh-Ott SL, Daniel GB, Ziemlewicz TJ, Soliman SB, Malhotra GB, Maxwell AD, Vlaisavljevich E, Tuohy J. The first limb-sparing use of histotripsy for canine osteosarcoma. Sci Rep. 2026 Mar 23. doi: 10.1038/s41598-026-42319-z. PMID: 41872305 

Xu J, Chen Y, Wang Z, Fan Q, Sun Y, Qu X, Zhuang Y, Cui W, Ou Y. Ultrasound-responsive bone-targeting liposomes suppress osteosarcoma through enhanced ROS generation and immunogenic cell death. J Control Release. 2026 Feb 22;393:114746. doi: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2026.114746. PMID: 41734864 

Qian J, Wu W, Wang H, Shu C, Liu B. Ultrasound-Enhanced Delivery of the Quercetin Derivative ANL3 Activates the FOXO1A-NDRG2-SOD2 Axis to Induce Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress in Osteosarcoma. Cancer Biother Radiopharm. 2026 Feb 5:10849785251406063. doi: 10.1177/10849785251406063. PMID: 41642032 

Achari PF, Vickers E, Ruger L, Vlaisavljevich E, Tuohy J, Collins CJ. Assessment of histotripsy as a bone-sparing tumor ablation technique in ex vivo osteosarcoma tumor-affected limbs. Front Vet Sci. 2026 Jan 9;12:1652469. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1652469. eCollection 2025. PMID: 41585516 

Vickers ER, Ruger LN, Coutermarsh-Ott SL, Daniel GB, Allen SP, Ziemlewicz TJ, Soliman SB, Malhotra GB, Maxwell AD, Vlaisavljevich E, Tuohy J. MRI for the Assessment of Histotripsy Ablation in a Canine Osteosarcoma Comparative Oncology Model. Ultrasound Med Biol. 2026 Jan;52(1):216-226. doi: 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2025.09.017. Epub 2025 Oct 17. PMID: 41109828 

Ponomarchuk E, Tsysar S, Kvashennikova A, Pestova P, Papikyan L, Kadrev A, Danilova N, Malkov P, Chernyaev A, Buravkov S, Khokhlova V. Non-thermal ultrasound-guided fractionation of human leiomyosarcoma with boiling histotripsy: an ex vivo feasibility study. Ultrasonics. 2025 Oct 22;159:107876. doi: 10.1016/j.ultras.2025.107876. PMID: 41135484 

Filippou A, Evripidou N, Spanoudes K, Damianou C. Veterinary pilot study on focused ultrasound treatment of spontaneous canine and feline tumours: technical and feasibility assessment. J Ultrasound. 2025 Sep 22. doi: 10.1007/s40477-025-01085-w. PMID: 40983784 

Rehman S, McCarthy C, Chetan M, Li YL, Gillies M, Cosker T, Wu F, Lyon PC. Imaging and intervention for soft tissue tumours in the era of locoregional therapies and immunotherapy. Clin Radiol. 2025 Aug;87:106969. doi: 10.1016/j.crad.2025.106969. Epub 2025 May 24. PMID: 40533275 

Ong ES, Wehrle CJ, Alassas MM. Distant Tumor Response in the Pelvis After Histotripsy of a Metastatic Sarcoma of the Liver in a Patient With Differentiated Liposarcoma. Am Surg. 2025 Aug 28:31348251371287. doi: 10.1177/00031348251371287. PMID: 40873348 

Kuchimanchi N, Sul N, Gajula S, Mercante M, Tocco E, Mayhew MM, Dengel LT, Cavalcante L, Hadley L, Witt RG. Focused Ultrasound for Sarcomas: A Narrative Review. Curr Oncol. 2025 Aug 12;32(8):452. doi: 10.3390/curroncol32080452. PMID: 40862821 

Chetan M, Gillies M, Rehman S, McCarthy C, Cosker T, Wu F, Lyon PC. High-intensity focused ultrasound treatment of unresectable soft tissue sarcoma and desmoid tumours – a systematic review. Clin Radiol. 2025 Aug;87:106977. doi: 10.1016/j.crad.2025.106977. Epub 2025 Jun 2. PMID: 40570819  

Laganà AS, Romano A, Vanhie A, Bafort C, Götte M, Aaltonen LA, Mas A, De Bruyn C, Van den Bosch T, Coosemans A, Guerriero S, Haimovich S, Tanos V, Bongers M, Barra F, Al-Hendy A, Chiantera V, Leone Roberti Maggiore U. Management of Uterine Fibroids and Sarcomas: The Palermo Position Paper. Gynecol Obstet Invest. 2024;89(2):73-86. doi: 10.1159/000537730. Epub 2024 Feb 21. PMID: 38382486  

Zhu YQ, Zhao GC, Zheng CX, Yuan L, Yuan GB. Managing spindle cell sarcoma with surgery and high-intensity focused ultrasound: A case report. World J Clin Cases. 2023 Sep 26;11(27):6551-6557. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v11.i27.6551. PMID: 37900255 

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 tendon contractures. This novel technology focuses beams of ultrasound energy precisely and accurately on targets deep in the brain without damaging surrounding normal tissue.

How it Works
Where the beams converge, focused ultrasound can make small lesions in the tendons, either by thermal ablation or by mechanical methods. When these lesions heal, there is evidence that there is improvement in the tendon function. While significant preclinical work on this is being accomplished, there is still much to be done before this technology will be widely available.

Advantages
The primary options for treatment of tendon contractures include medication and surgery.

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 tendon contractures.

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 tendon contractures is not yet approved by regulatory bodies or covered by medical insurance companies.

See here for a list of laboratory research sites.

Notable Papers

Khandare S, Smallcomb M, Elliott J, Vidt ME, Simon JC. Focused ultrasound as an alternative to dry needling for the treatment of tendinopathies: A murine model. J Orthop Res. 2024 Mar;42(3):598-606. doi: 10.1002/jor.25700. Epub 2023 Oct 14. PMID: 37804211; PMCID: PMC10932869. 

Chu Kwan W, Partanen A, Narayanan U, Waspe AC, Drake JM. Biomechanical testing of ex vivo porcine tendons following high intensity focused ultrasound thermal ablation. PLoS One. 2024 May 7;19(5):e0302778. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0302778. eCollection 2024. PMID: 38713687 

Chu Kwan W, den Otter-Moore I, Partanen A, Piorkowska K, Waspe AC, Drake JM. Noninvasive magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound for tendon disruption: an in vivo Animal study. Int J Hyperthermia. 2023;40(1):2260129. doi: 10.1080/02656736.2023.2260129. Epub 2023 Sep 24. PMID: 37743063 

Smallcomb M, Simon JC. High intensity focused ultrasound atomization and erosion in healthy and tendinopathic tendons. Phys Med Biol. 2023 Jan 5;68(2). doi: 10.1088/1361-6560/aca9b7.

Smallcomb M, Elliott J, Khandare S, Butt AA, Vidt ME, Simon JC. Focused ultrasound mechanical disruption of ex vivo rat tendon. IEEE Trans Ultrason Ferroelectr Freq Control. 2021 Apr 23;PP. doi: 10.1109/TUFFC.2021.3075375.

Khandare S, Smallcomb M, Klein B, Geary C, Simon JC, Vidt ME. Comparison between dry needling and focused ultrasound on the mechanical properties of the rat Achilles tendon: A pilot study. J Biomech. 2021 Mar 15;120:110384. doi: 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2021.110384.

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 soft tissue injuries. This novel technology focuses beams of ultrasound energy precisely and accurately on targets in the body without damaging surrounding normal tissue.

How it Works
Where the beams converge, focused ultrasound produces small regions of damage (thermal lesions) within tendons, ligaments and other soft tissues in order to promote the growth of new connective tissue, which enables improved healing without the need for surgery. This technique was first used for plantar fasciitis and epicondylitis (tennis elbow). It has recently achieved the CE mark in Europe for widespread use on musculoskeletal injuries.

Advantages
The primary options for treatment of soft tissue injuries include medication and invasive surgery.

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 soft tissue injuries.

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 soft tissue injury is not yet approved by regulatory bodies or covered by medical insurance companies in the US. Actisound has the CE Mark in Europe for soft tissue injuries, but in 2022 the company went out of business. No other company that we are aware of is trying to use this same approach for treatment of soft tissue injuries.

Notable Papers

McCune EP, Blackman SG, Kamimura HAS, Bendau EV, Sachs TD, Kim S, Lee SA, Winfree CJ, Konofagou EE. Displacement-Guided Focused Ultrasound of the Median Nerve Modulates Somatosensory Evoked Potentials in Humans. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng. 2026 Mar;73(3):1255-1267. doi: 10.1109/TBME.2025.3602291. PMID: 40857198 

Guo X, Zhu H, Liu W, Pan L, Fu B, Zhou Z, Zhang J, Zhou K. High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound Ablation for Soft Tissue Tumors in Challenging Anatomical Locations: Preliminary Study. Ultrasound Med Biol. 2026 Mar;52(3):602-607. doi: 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2025.11.005. Epub 2025 Dec 1. PMID: 41330845 

Liu S, Xiao Y, Xiao K. Clinical effectiveness of focused ultrasound combined with plasma radiofrequency ablation technique in the treatment of persistent strain rhinitis. Medicine (Baltimore). 2024 Jun 28;103(26):e38538. doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000038538. PMID: 38941395 

Liang D, Chen J, Zhou W, Chen J, Chen W, Wang Y. Alleviation Effects and Mechanisms of Low-intensity Focused Ultrasound on Pain Triggered by Soft Tissue Injury. J Ultrasound Med. 2019 Nov 30. doi: 10.1002/jum.15185.

Slayton, M., Amodei, R., Compton, K., Cicchinelli, L., Retrospective Analysis of Plantar Fascia by Ultrasound Imaging Patients Diagnosed with Plantar Fasciitis. J Am Acad Orthop Surg. 2008 Jun;16(6):338-46. JAPMA (in print) 2017

Neufeld SK, Cerrato R. Plantar fasciitis: evaluation and treatment. J Am Acad Orthop Surg. 2008 Jun;16(6):338-46.

Mast TD, Makin IR, Faidi W, Runk MM, Barthe PG, Slayton MH. Bulk ablation of soft tissue with intense ultrasound: modeling and experiments. J Acoust Soc Am. 2005 Oct;118(4):2715-24.

Click here for more 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 soft tissue tumors. Some soft tissue tumors have had significant progress in their development, and thus had their own listing. See Basal Cell Carcinoma, Actinic Keratosis, Sarcoma- (both osteo and non-osteo types). This novel technology focuses beams of ultrasonic 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 is precise ablation (thermal destruction of tissue). This destruction 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. The Toosonix device is specifically designed to help with very superficial tumors. Another mechanism is to produce local hyperthermia of the targeted tissue, which can have a variety of beneficial effects including the release of chemotherapy drugs that are contained in temperature sensitive therapeutic molecules. 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 soft tissue tumors include surgery with possible chemotherapy or radiation.

For certain patients, focused ultrasound could provide a noninvasive alternative to surgery with less risk of complications and lower cost.

Primary Soft Tissue Tumors
The primary (intrinsic to the soft tissue) tumors can be benign or malignant. Most of the research with benign tumors had been done with desmoid tumors, which are benign but aggressive tumors that have been treated with focused ultrasound on some anecdotal cases with good results. (See “Desmoid Tumors” for more information.)

There are a variety of malignant soft tissue tumors including multiple types of sarcomas and other connective tissue diseases. There are clinical trials (listed below) for refractory or relapsed malignant tumors.

There has been CE approval in Europe for a company in Denmark called TOOsonix. They have treated Actinic Keratosis, Basal Cell Carcinoma, as well as other dermatologic conditions.

Secondary Soft Tissue Tumors
The secondary tumors that are found in the soft tissue most commonly come from the skin, lung, breast, kidney, colon and rectum. These malignancies are becoming the target in clinical trials, particularly in the pediatric and young adult population.

Advantages:

• Focused ultrasound is noninvasive, so it does not carry added concerns like surgical wound healing or infection.
• In some uses, there is an enhanced chemotherapeutic dose for the target, with less impact on the rest of the patient.
• Focused ultrasound is radiation free.
• It can be repeated, if necessary.

Clinical Trials

A clinical trial for basal cell carcinoma has begun in Denmark.

A clinical trial for sarcoma has begun in Oxford, UK.

A clinical trial for a number of recurrent solid tumors has begun recruiting patients at Children’s National in Washington, DC.  

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 & Reimbursement

The Model JC Haifu system has received regulatory approval in Europe, Russia, and China for treatment of soft tissue tumors, including sarcomas. At present, focused ultrasound is not universally reimbursed for treatment of soft tissue sarcomas.

Patient Advocacy

Several organizations worldwide support patients with soft tissue sarcomas. Among them are:

Desmoid Tumor Research Foundation, which encourages you to join the DTRF Patient Registry in order to facilitate research efforts. With access to your experience as a patient, researchers will be able to continue learning and making new discoveries in the field of desmoid tumors. If you have ever had a desmoid tumor, you can participate. For more information, visit http://dtrf.org/.

Sarcoma Alliance, which works to improve the lives of patients affected by sarcomas through better diagnostic accuracy, improved access to care, education, and support. For more information, visit www.sarcomaalliance.org.

Sarcoma Patients Euronet, which works with clinical experts, research scientists, industry, and others to improve treatment and care for sarcoma patients in Europe by increasing awareness and providing patients with support and information. For more information, visit www.sarcoma-patients.eu.

Notable Papers

Guo X, Zhu H, Liu W, Pan L, Fu B, Zhou Z, Zhang J, Zhou K. High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound Ablation for Soft Tissue Tumors in Challenging Anatomical Locations: Preliminary Study. Ultrasound Med Biol. 2025 Dec 1:S0301-5629(25)00654-4. doi: 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2025.11.005. PMID: 41330845 

Kim J, Kim J, Lee DK, Shin EJ, Chang JH. High-Intensity focused ultrasound linear array and system for dermatology treatment. Ultrasonics. 2025 Jan;145:107477. doi: 10.1016/j.ultras.2024.107477. Epub 2024 Sep 19. PMID: 39332247 

Calik J, Zawada T, Sauer N, Bove T. High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (20 MHz) and Cryotherapy as Therapeutic Options for Granuloma Annulare and Other Inflammatory Skin Conditions. Dermatol Ther (Heidelb). 2024 May;14(5):1189-1210. doi: 10.1007/s13555-024-01163-7. Epub 2024 May 4. PMID: 38703308 

Long Z, Hesley GK, Lu A, Hangiandreou NJ, Gorny KR, Tiegs-Heiden CA. MRgFUS ablation of a recurrent tenosynovial giant cell tumor in the foot using ExAblate 2100 system in combination with patient immobilization device. Radiography (Lond). 2024 Apr 3;30(3):840-842. doi: 10.1016/j.radi.2024.03.010. PMID: 38574580 

Laganà AS, Romano A, Vanhie A, Bafort C, Götte M, Aaltonen LA, Mas A, De Bruyn C, Van den Bosch T, Coosemans A, Guerriero S, Haimovich S, Tanos V, Bongers M, Barra F, Al-Hendy A, Chiantera V, Leone Roberti Maggiore U. Management of Uterine Fibroids and Sarcomas: the Palermo Position Paper. Gynecol Obstet Invest. 2024 Feb 21. doi: 10.1159/000537730. PMID: 38382486 

Click here for more 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 spinal cord injury. This novel technology focuses beams of ultrasound energy precisely and accurately on targets in the spinal cord.

How it Works
Recent preclinical research is investigating focused ultrasound for temporary opening of the brain-spinal cord barrier to enhance delivery of genes, growth factors or other agents to improve recovery. 

Researchers at John’s Hopkins University are working to develop a Band-Aid–sized implantable device from concept to human use. If it detects decreased blood flow to the spinal cord, the device would be used to apply focused ultrasound at the proper parameters to improve blood flow, stop inflammation, and offer pain relief or other neuroprotective therapies to prevent further damage to the injured spinal cord tissue.

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 spinal cord injury include structural stabilization of the bones of the spine, but little therapy for the damaged cord itself is currently available.

For certain patients, focused ultrasound could provide a noninvasive means of enhancing blood flow or enhancing the delivery of therapeutic agents to the injured cord to improve recovery.

Clinical Trials

At the present time, there are no clinical trials recruiting patients for focused ultrasound treatment of spinal cord injury.

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 spinal cord injury is not yet approved by regulatory bodies or covered by medical insurance companies.

Notable Papers

Wang B, Zhao H, Chen M, Chen S, Liao Y, Tang X, Ao L, Liu Y. Proteomics Reveals the Effect of Low-Intensity Focused Ultrasound on Spasticity After Spinal Cord Injury. Turk Neurosurg. 2022 Feb 8. doi: 10.5137/1019-5149.JTN.37469-21.2. Online ahead of print.

Liao YH, Chen MX, Chen SC, Luo KX, Wang B, Ao LJ, Liu Y. Low-Intensity Focused Ultrasound Alleviates Spasticity and Increases Expression of the Neuronal K-Cl Cotransporter in the L4-L5 Sections of Rats Following Spinal Cord Injury. Front Cell Neurosci. 2022 May 12;16:882127. doi: 10.3389/fncel.2022.882127. eCollection 2022.

Cross CG, Payne AH, Hawryluk GW, Haag-Roeger R, Cheeniyil R, Brady D, Odéen H, Minoshima S, Cross DJ, Anzai Y. Technical Note: Quantification of Blood Spinal Cord Barrier Permeability after Application of Magnetic Resonance Guided Focused Ultrasound in Spinal Cord Injury. Med Phys. 2021 May 17. doi: 10.1002/mp.14947.

Fletcher SP, Choi M, Ramesh R, O’Reilly MA. Focused Ultrasound-Induced Blood-Spinal Cord Barrier Opening Using Short-Burst Phase-Keying Exposures in Rats: A Parameter Study. Ultrasound Med Biol. 2021 Apr 17:S0301-5629(21)00128-9. doi: 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2021.03.007.

Song Z, Ye Y, Zhang Z, et al. Noninvasive, targeted gene therapy for acute spinal cord injury using LIFU-mediated BDNF-loaded cationic nanobubble destruction. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2018;496(3):911-920. doi:10.1016/j.bbrc.2018.01.123.

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 sacroiliitis. This novel technology focuses beams of ultrasound energy precisely and accurately on targets in the body without damaging surrounding normal tissue. 

How it Works
Where the beams converge, the ultrasound produces precise ablation of nerve tissue that supplies the inflamed sacroiliac joints, alleviating the pain caused by sacroiliitis.

Advantages
The primary options for treatment of sacroiliitis include medication (both over the counter and prescription pain relievers), physical therapy, joint injections, radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and invasive surgery.

For certain patients, focused ultrasound could provide a noninvasive alternative to RFA or 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

A clinical trial is in the final stages of organization at UVA for the treatment of sacroiliac arthritis.  

A clinical trial using focused ultrasound to treat patients with sacroiliitis has begun in Israel. 

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 Approvals and Reimbursement

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

Notable Papers

Gur R, Harel T, Kelmer P, Sheinfeld R, Jacobi O, Goor-Aryeh I, Ungar L. First Treatment of a Sacroiliitis Patient Using Fluoroscopy Guided High Intensity Focused Ultrasound for Sacroiliitis. Pain Pract. 2026 Apr;26(4):e70134. doi: 10.1111/papr.70134. PMID: 41814391 

Gao G, Thomas Z, Kantarci H, Pacharinsak C, Zuchero JB, Pauly KB, Yeomans DC, Anderson TA. Focused Ultrasound-Induced Peripheral Nerve Blockade: Duration of Changes to Thermal Withdrawal Latency and Nerve Structure After Focused Ultrasound Application to the Sciatic Nerve in a Rat Model of Acute Pain. J Neurosci Res. 2025 Sep;103(9):e70079. doi: 10.1002/jnr.70079. PMID: 40990106 

Najafi A., Sartoretti E., Binkert CA. Sacroiliac Joint Ablation Using MR-HIFU. Cardiovasc Intervent Radiol (2019) 42:1363–1365

Kaye EA, Maybody M, Monette S, Solomon SB, Gulati A. Ablation of the sacroiliac joint using MR-guided high intensity focused ultrasound: a preliminary experiment in a swine model. J Ther Ultrasound. 2017 Jun 26;5:17. doi: 10.1186/s40349-017-0095-x.

Scipione R, Anzidei M, Bazzocchi A, Gagliardo C, Catalano C, Napoli A. HIFU for Bone Metastases and other Musculoskeletal Applications. Semin Intervent Radiol. 2018 Oct;35(4):261-267. doi: 10.1055/s-0038-1673363. Epub 2018 Nov 5. Review.

Kaye EA, Monette S, Srimathveeravalli G, Maybody M, Solomon SB, Gulati A. MRI-guided focused ultrasound ablation of lumbar medial branch nerve: Feasibility and safety study in a swine model. Int J Hyperthermia. 2016 Nov;32(7):786-94. doi: 10.1080/02656736.2016.1197972. Epub 2016 Jul 21.

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 rotator cuff injury. This novel technology focuses beams of ultrasound energy precisely and accurately on targets in the body without damaging surrounding normal tissue.

How it Works
Where the beams converge, focused ultrasound produces localized injury to the tissue. This small injury causes stimulation of the tissue to heal, and can result in improved function without additional surgery. While significant 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 rotator cuff injury includes medication and invasive surgery.

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 rotator cuff injury.

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 rotator cuff injury is not yet approved by regulatory bodies or covered by medical insurance companies.

Notable Papers

Simon J, Vidt M. Histotripsy as a novel therapeutic approach to rotator cuff tendon injury. Abstract presented at Focused Ultrasound Foundation’s 2018 Symposium.

Yamamoto N, Kinnick RR, Fatemi M, Muraki T, Sperling JW, Steinmann SP, Cofield RH, Itoi E, An KN. Diagnosis of small partial-thickness rotator cuff tears using vibro-acoustography. J Med Ultrason (2001). 2015 Jan;42(1):3-7. doi: 10.1007/s10396-014-0553-9. Epub 2014 Jun 26.

Gellhorn AC, Gillenwater C, Mourad PD. Intense focused ultrasound stimulation of the rotator cuff: evaluation of the source of pain in rotator cuff tears and tendinopathy. Ultrasound Med Biol. 2015 Sep;41(9):2412-9. doi: 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2015.05.005. Epub 2015 Jun 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 sacral chordomas. 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 sacral chordomas to be treated without surgery.

Focused ultrasound has been used to treat four patients with sacral chordomas in England with encouraging results. The researchers report tumor volume was reduced over time in three patients for whom follow up scans were available. Tumor necrosis was documented in two out of the three patients.

Advantages
The primary options for treatment of sacral chordomas include invasive surgery.

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. This is particularly important as even with best efforts, chodomas can seed the surgical wound and recur.

Clinical Trials

There are no clinical trials treating sacral chordoma that we are aware of currently.

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 sacral chordoma is not yet approved by regulatory bodies or covered by medical insurance companies.

Patient Advocacy 

The Chordoma Foundation is a nonprofit organization working to improve the lives of those affected by chordoma and lead the search for a cure.

Notable Papers

Chetan MR, Lyon PC, Wu F, Phillips R, Cranston D, Gillies MJ, Bojanic S. Role of diffusion-weighted imaging in monitoring treatment response following high-intensity focused ultrasound ablation of recurrent sacral chordoma. Radiol Case Rep. 2019 Aug 1;14(10):1197-1201. doi: 10.1016/j.radcr.2019.07.004. eCollection 2019 Oct.

Gillies MJ, Lyon PC, Wu F, Leslie T, Chung DY, Gleeson F, Cranston D, Bojanic S. High-intensity focused ultrasonic ablation of sacral chordoma is feasible: a series of four cases and details of a national clinical trial. Br J Neurosurg. 2016 Dec 12:1-6.

Click here for additional references from PubMed.