John Grisham Joins Focused Ultrasound Surgery Foundation Board, Citing Novel Technology’s Potential to Help ‘Millions of Patients’

  Best-Selling Author to Devote Energies to Raising Awareness and Funds to

  Advance the Use of Focused Ultrasound in Treating Cancers, Neurological,

                      Other Serious Medical Conditions



    CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Aug. 13 /EMWNews/ -- The Focused Ultrasound

Surgery Foundation, founded in 2006 to accelerate the development and

adoption of a breakthrough therapeutic technology -- Magnetic Resonance

Guided Focused Ultrasound Surgery -- is pleased to announce that author

John Grisham has been elected to the Board of Directors for a three-year

term.



    Dr. Neal F. Kassell, Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of

Virginia and Chairman of the Foundation's Board, announced the election and

added, "We are delighted to have John as a Board member. It shows that the

promise of this technology is attracting prominent support even beyond the

scientific and medical community." Mr. Grisham's role will be two-fold:

first, to help obtain the philanthropic support necessary to accelerate the

development of this exciting field; and, secondly, to increase the

awareness of this innovative therapeutic approach.



    Mr. Grisham, author of 21 best sellers and a resident of

Charlottesville, Virginia, said, "My medical knowledge is quite limited;

however, I am convinced that this technology will soon touch the lives of

millions of patients, and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to be part

of this effort."

    About Magnetic Resonance Guided Focused Ultrasound (MRgFUS)



    MRgFUS is a disruptive technology that is poised to revolutionize the

treatment of a wide variety of medical disorders by serving as the ultimate

in minimally invasive surgery; an alternative to radiation therapy; the

means for precisely delivering drugs in high concentrations to the point

where they are needed, avoiding systemic toxicity; and, dissolving blood

clots and restoring circulation.



    MRgFUS holds the potential to non-invasively treat breast, prostate,

liver, and other benign and malignant tumors; to convert metastatic cancer

from a lethal disease to a manageable, chronic disorder; reverse the

disabling and life threatening neurological deficits from stroke; to

alleviate the symptoms of Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, and chronic pain;

and to address a host of other disorders ranging from heart disease to

diabetes.



    The procedure can be performed on an outpatient basis, does not require

general anesthesia or incisions, results in minimal discomfort and few

complications, and allows rapid recovery.



    MRgFUS is the result of the integration of two technologies: high

intensity focused ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging. Focused

ultrasound technology uses multiple intersecting beams of ultrasound energy

focused with extreme precision on a target as small as one millimeter in

diameter. Where each individual ultrasound beam passes through the tissue

there is no effect, but where they intersect in the body, the focused

energy creates a cumulative effect, enabling precise ablation of tissue,

highly targeted drug delivery, or liquification of blood clots. Magnetic

resonance imaging is used to visualize normal anatomy and abnormal

structures within the body, to localize the tissue to be targeted, to guide

and control the treatment interactively, and to evaluate the effectiveness

of therapy.



    About The Focused Ultrasound Surgery Foundation (FUSF)

http://www.fusfoundation.org



    The Charlottesville based Focused Ultrasound Surgery Foundation's

mission is to shorten the time from technology development to patient

treatment, to develop new applications, and to accelerate the worldwide

adoption of MRgFUS. The Foundation's activities include: funding

translational and clinical research, providing fellowships for training

physicians and scientists, hosting symposia and workshops, maintaining

online informational resources, and establishing new centers of excellence.






     Contact

     Sara Nazzaro

     Feinstein Kean Healthcare

     (617) 761-6742

     [email protected]