ABSTRACT
The initial experiments involving magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided focused
ultrasound surgery (MRIgFUS) were performed in the early 1990s by a collaboration of
investigators at the University of Arizona with investigators at Brigham and Women’s
Hospital and General Electric (1-4). These experiments demonstrated the feasibility of
using a focused ultrasound device within an MRI scanner, visualizing the focal heating
and detecting the resulting tissue damage. Based on these studies, a prototype computer-
controlled MRIgFUS system was developed (5), which was used shortly afterwards in a
clinical study to ablate breast fibroadenomas (6). A similar system was developed
independently in Germany (7).
