HistoSonics, Minnesota-based manufacturer of the non-invasive Edison Histotripsy System with offices in Ann Arbor, revealed that a patient from the University of Rochester Medical Center has received the world’s first targeted liver tumor treatments utilizing the Edison System.
The procedure was performed following its recent FDA De Novo clearance. In the same week Cleveland Clinic treated their initial patients suffering from liver tumors utilizing histotripsy.
On Dec. 18, Dr. Roberto Hernandez-Alejandro, chief of the division of transplantation; Dr. Koji Tomiyama, associate professor of surgery & transplant at the University of Rochester, and their team were first to use Edison to perform a histotripsy liver treatment on a patient suffering from recurrent liver tumors originating in the colon.
HistoSonics’ image guided sonic beam therapy system was created using proprietary technology and advanced imaging to deliver non-invasive, personalized treatments with precision and control. The science of histotripsy uses focused sound energy to produce controlled acoustic cavitation that mechanically destroys and liquifies targeted tissue at sub-cellular levels.
“There is an enormous potential applicability of histotripsy in patients with liver tumors,” says Dr. Hernandez-Alejandro. “By destroying targeted liver tumors, histotripsy opens the opportunities for patients to be down-staged and bridged for surgical resections and transplantation. One of the most interesting findings in our early experience is the preservation of the vessels and blood flow, which is unique and may open a new era in liver therapies.”
Dr. C.H. David Kwon, director of minimally invasive liver Surgery at Cleveland Clinic, and his team performed their initial procedure on a patient with primary colorectal disease with metastasis to the liver that has continued to progress despite getting chemotherapy.
“In our early experience, we have found that patients have the potential to benefit from histotripsy because it is less invasive than other treatment options and our patients reported a lack of pain following the procedure,” says Kwon.
The Cleveland Clinic team led by Kwon, Dr. Federico Aucejo, and Dr. Jaekeun Kim has treated three patients with liver tumors of multiple different diseases.
“Our purpose has always been to make a meaningful change in the lives of patients,” says Dr. Joe Herman, medical director for the Cleveland Clinic. “Working with the University of Rochester Medical Center and Cleveland Clinic as the first to offer non-invasive histotripsy to treat their patients’ liver tumors as part of standard clinical practice supports our ongoing mission.”
HistoSonics is in the process of training key staff and launching over a dozen of its first partners programs around the United States. The company believes its proprietary technology provides significant advantages to patients, including the ability of the treatment site to recover and resorb quickly.
The HistoSonics’ platform also provides physicians the ability to monitor the destruction of tissue under continuous real-time visualization and control, unlike any modality that exists today.
