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Application of high-intensity focused ultrasound for fetal therapy: experimental study using an animal model of lower urinary tract obstruction

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Abstract

Objective

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) exposure is able to produce a fistula between the bladder and abdominal wall of a fetus with lower urinary tract obstruction (LUTO).

Materials and methods

We constructed a prototype HIFU transducer in combination with an imaging probe. HIFU was applied to the lower abdomen of a rabbit neonate that was complicated by LUTO as an experimental model to produce a fistula; HIFU was applied in a tank filled with degassed water. Exposed lesions were assessed by histological analysis at necropsy.

Results

When HIFU was applied at 5.5 kW/cm2 of spatial-peak temporal average intensity (SPTA), a fistula was created between the lower abdominal wall and the urinary bladder; urine gushed out from the bladder through the fistula within 60 s after HIFU exposure.

Conclusion

The findings suggest that fetal diseases such as LUTO can be non-invasively treated using HIFU exposure from even outside the maternal body, though this study was performed in a water tank.

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Acknowledgments

This research was financially supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (No. 21592112) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

Conflict of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Showa University School of Medicine, 1-5-8 Hatanodai, Shinagawa, Tokyo, 142-8666, Japan

    Hiroko Aoki, Kiyotake Ichizuka, Mitsuyoshi Ichihara, Ryu Matsuoka, Junichi Hasegawa & Takashi Okai

  2. Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

    Shinichirou Umemura

Authors
  1. Hiroko Aoki
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  2. Kiyotake Ichizuka
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  3. Mitsuyoshi Ichihara
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  4. Ryu Matsuoka
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  5. Junichi Hasegawa
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  6. Takashi Okai
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  7. Shinichirou Umemura
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kiyotake Ichizuka.

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Aoki, H., Ichizuka, K., Ichihara, M. et al. Application of high-intensity focused ultrasound for fetal therapy: experimental study using an animal model of lower urinary tract obstruction. J Med Ultrasonics 40, 107–110 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10396-012-0398-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10396-012-0398-z

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