High-intensity focused ultrasound
High intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU, or sometimes MRgFUS for magnetic resonance guided focused ultrasound) is a medical procedure that applies high intensity focused ultrasound energy to locally heat and destroy diseased or damaged tissue through ablation.
HIFU is a hyperthermia therapy, a class of clinical therapies that use temperature to treat diseases. HIFU is also one modality of therapeutic ultrasound, involving minimally-invasive or non-invasive methods to direct acoustic energy into the body. In addition to HIFU, other modalities include ultrasound-assisted drug delivery, ultrasound hemostasis, ultrasound lithotripsy, and ultrasound-assisted thrombolysis.
Clinical HIFU procedures are typically performed in conjunction with an imaging procedure to enable treatment planning and targeting before applying a therapeutic or ablative levels of ultrasound energy. When Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is used for guidance, the technique is sometimes called Magnetic Resonance guided Focused Ultrasound, often shortened to MRgFUS or MRgHIFU.
