MRgFUS can destroy fibroid tumours without breaking the skin- Hospital Management.net

In this article published on March 14, 2011, at Hospital Management website, Dr. Matzko - head of the department of clinical and interventional radiology at the Hospital of Dachau in Germany, explaines that nowadays, women suffering from fibroid tumours no longer need to undergo invasive procesures.

Dr. Matzko refers to the non-invasive treatment known as MRgFUS.  MRgFUS is a non-invasive, outpatient surgical procedure that uses high-intensity focused ultrasound waves to ablate tissue in combination with MRI, which visualises the patient's anatomy, maps the volume of fibroid tissue to be treated and monitors the temperature of the uterine tissue after heating. The thermoablative component of MRgFUS occurs when multiple sound waves from an ultrasound source pass through the skin and converge at a focal point in the target.

Dr. Matzko always tells his patients that focused ultrasound is the knife and the MRI is the eye of the operator.
"The MRI offers you nearly real-time feedback of the structures you are treating inside the body, and the temperature they reach. This is extremely important in order to avoid side effects."

The technology was first approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2004 for pre-menopausal women with symptomatic fibroids who had no desire for future fertility. But the labelling of the procedure was changed in 2009 to take into account the desire for future pregnancy. Although this is still not an absolute contraindication, it is generally accepted now that MRgFUS does not impair fertility.

To read the complete article please click here.