High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) For Palliation of Canine Appendicular Osteosarcoma

Brigitte Brisson, DMV, DVSc, DACVS from the Ontario Veterinary College at the University of Guelph joined us on OsteoBites to introduce Magnetic Resonance guided High Intensity Focused Ultrasound as a treatment modality for osteosarcoma and describe preliminary results in canine patients.

High Intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is a non-invasive percutaneous thermal ablation technique that allows deep tissue treatment with precise control over the shape and location of energy deposition. It causes minimal collateral damage and can be used to treat primary and metastatic tumours. In addition to its role in tumour ablation, HIFU has attracted attention for its potential to stimulate the immune system and possibly mount a response against metastasis. In humans, HIFU has been used for ablation of a variety of soft tissue tumours and most recently, it has been used in bone applications, specifically for the treatment of osteoid osteoma (OO) lesions in pediatric patients. Other reported bone applications include bone metastasis and osteosarcoma.

Dr. Brigitte Brisson is a professor of soft tissue surgery in the Department of Clinical Studies at the Ontario Veterinary College (OVC). She graduated from the Faculté de Médecine Vétérinaire at the University of Montreal in 1996. She performed a small animal rotating internship at the OVC followed by a Surgery residency with concurrent Doctor of Veterinary Science (DVSc) in small animal surgery. She became board certified in small animal surgery (ACVS) in 2001 and has since been on faculty at the Ontario Veterinary College. She is an ACVS Founding Fellow in Minimally Invasive Surgery and a Founding Member of Veterinary Neurosurgical Society.