New Global Clinical Society Brings Focused Ultrasound Into Mainstream Medicine

The Focused Ultrasound Foundation has launched the International Focused Ultrasound Society (IFUS), a new organization dedicated to advancing clinical practice and accelerating the adoption of focused ultrasound—a new (some claim revolutionary) noninvasive therapeutic technology. 

Established as a program of the Focused Ultrasound Foundation, IFUS aggregates and expands the Foundation’s activities related to clinical implementation and will leverage the Foundation’s established brand, infrastructure, and human and financial resources. 

IFUS core activities include:

• Educating clinicians, allied healthcare providers, and the public about focused ultrasound use across indications
• Conducting meetings and workshops
• Providing patient support and advocacy (public policy, regulatory, and reimbursement)
• Coding, billing, and insurance
• Drafting clinical guidelines, best practices, and standards of care
• Training, credentialing, and certification
• Establishing society and industry partnerships
• Conducting public relations and communications

“Focused ultrasound has reached a tipping point in clinical adoption, and its role as a game-changing element in the therapeutic armamentarium is now being recognized,” Focused Ultrasound Foundation Founder/Chairman Neal F. Kassell, M.D., said. “IFUS will help bring this technology into mainstream medicine worldwide by formalizing the clinical, educational, and organizational framework needed for widespread adoption.” 

Focused ultrasound is a noninvasive technology that uses high-frequency sound waves, guided by real-time imaging, to treat tissue deep in the body without incisions or radiation. It can exert its effect through multiple mechanisms of action, including destroying tissue, delivering drugs more safely and effectively, and enhancing cancer immunotherapy.   

The technology has emerged as one of the most significant medical advances of the 21st century, with more than 1 million patients treated, over 180 indications in various stages of development, and 35 regulatory authorizations worldwide, including 12 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Focused ultrasound is now on a trajectory to treat more than 1 million patients annually.  

Nir Lipsman, M.D., Ph.D., a neurosurgeon at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and chair of the Division of Neurosurgery at the University of Toronto, will serve as the inaugural IFUS board chair.  

“As the use of focused ultrasound accelerates globally, IFUS will serve as its clinical home, advancing clinical applications, supporting implementation, and increasing awareness,” Dr. Lipsman stated. “By connecting physicians across disciplines and regions, the organization will help define the standards, evidence base, and systems needed to make focused ultrasound more accessible to patients worldwide.” 

The IFUS founding board members include leading clinicians and researchers representing a wide range of geographies and specialties: Jin Woo Chang, M.D., Ph.D., Korea University Anam Hospital; Sébastien Crouzet, M.D., Ph.D., Hospices Civils de Lyon & Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1; Wladyslaw Gedroyc, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust; Catherine Gilmore-Lawless, former executive, Elekta and GE Healthcare; Pejman Ghanouni, M.D., Ph.D., Stanford University School of Medicine; Kullervo Hynynen, Ph.D., Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre; Zhang Lian, M.D., Chongqing Haifu Hospital; Nir Lipsman, M.D., Ph.D., Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre; Suzanne LeBlang, M.D., Focused Ultrasound Foundation; Clare M. Tempany, M.D., Harvard Medical School & Brigham and Women’s Hospital; Joan Vidal-Jove, M.D., Ph.D., Comprehensive Tumour Center, Barcelona; Zhen Xu, Ph.D., University of Michigan.

IFUS is focused on clinical activities and will complement organizations such as the International Society for Therapeutic Ultrasound (ISTU), which emphasizes basic research and technology development. 

Membership will include clinicians, researchers, and trainees, and all individuals involved in focused ultrasound are encouraged to sign up to connect, exchange ideas, and promote and advance this technology. Founding membership is offered at no cost for the first year. 

Based in Charlottesville, Va., the Focused Ultrasound Foundation was created to improve the lives of millions of people worldwide by accelerating the development of focused ultrasound. The Foundation works to clear the path to global adoption in the shortest time possible by organizing and funding research, fostering collaboration, and building awareness among patients and clinicians. Positioned at the nexus of the focused ultrasound ecosystem, the Foundation is the catalyst and driving force for development and adoption of the technology, and the largest non-governmental funding source for focused ultrasound research.