Hyperthermic/MR Hybrid System Destroys Tumors

A new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) application allows an array of radiofrequency (RF) antennae to be positioned around a patient within a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) unit, focusing in three-dimensions (3D) on destroying cancerous tumors while the MR system is simultaneously working. The steered RF beams kill the cancerous cells while the MRI calculates the temperatures within the tumor so that clinicians can target the treatment. The system, called BSD-2000/3D/MR, was described in an article published in the January 2005 issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics.

This approach is radical in several ways. The use of MRI for temperature monitoring of tumors situated deep in the body during therapy is a revolutionary divergence from the conventional use of MRI for diagnostics only. Superheating the tumor destroys the cancerous cells; it also makes the tumor less resistant to chemotherapy and radiation, and this therapy is used to boost the effectiveness of both.

Exceptional engineering was needed in providing electromagnetic compatibility between the two systems. The hybrid system was developed through the combined efforts of BSD Medical Corp. (Salt Lake City, UT, USA), Charity Medical School (Berlin, Germany), and Siemens Medical Systems (Erlangen, Germany).

Focusing energy on eight various tumor sites in the body, researchers reported that the average accuracy of the system was within the tolerance of +/- 0.4-0.5oC (well within the requirements for the therapy). With a shorter observation time, the accuracy further came within +/- 0.2-0.3oC.




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