MR-guided thermoseeds can destroy cancerous brain tissue

The MR-guided ablation technique would allow patients to avoid the toxicity of traditional cancer therapies, as well as a much more invasive open surgical procedure. In turn, this could also reduce recovery times and improve outcomes for patients, the researchers suggested.

To achieve the best results, the authors of the study highlighted the need for precise seed imaging, in addition to having the systems tailored to navigate through tissue within 0.3 mm accuracy. Since MRI is already a readily available and easily accessible diagnostic tool, designing these systems to carry out MINIMA procedures would not be a massive undertaking, the experts suggested.

“As MRI is already used to detect the boundaries of cancers, the seed can be moved precisely to ensure it does not stray into surrounding healthy tissue. As the seed is guided through the tissue it can be heated to destroy the cancer,” senior author of the study, Mark Lythgoe, PhD, at the UCL Center for Advanced Biomedical Imaging, in London, said. “This combines therapy and diagnosis into a single device, creating a completely new class of imaging therapy.”

You can view the detailed research in Advanced Science.