The University of Michigan Histotripsy Center will make its specialized equipment and expertise available to external researchers
Key takeaways
- The new histotripsy research center marks a new phase in a quarter century of research at U-M-where this noninvasive cancer treatment was invented.
- Histotripsy destroys tumors with sound waves, without incisions or the side effects and recovery times of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy.
- In an effort to accelerate the technology's scientific and clinical progress and enable more patients to benefit faster, the histotripsy research center is open to researchers outside the University of Michigan at no cost.
Expanding use of a noninvasive, ultrasound-based cancer treatment is the ultimate goal of the new University of Michigan Histotripsy Center, a first-of-its-kind facility launched today.
Invented at University of Michigan Engineering, histotripsy is the first commercially available ultrasound-based approach to treating tumors, allowing them to be destroyed without surgery and with few side effects to patients. Since receiving FDA authorization for liver tumors in 2023, U-M startup HistoSonics has installed over 130 treatment systems around the world, and they've been used to treat over 5,000 patients.
The Histotripsy Center is open for use by researchers both inside and outside U-M. The broader access to its specialized equipment and unparalleled, inventor-level expertise is expected to accelerate the technology's scientific and clinical progress and enable more patients to benefit faster.
"Michigan is at its best when our brightest minds connect to tackle the most consequential challenges facing society," said U-M President Domenico Grasso. "We see that today in the Histotripsy Center.
"Decades from now, I believe histotripsy will be spoken of alongside U-M's historic contributions to the polio and influenza vaccines, and the many other discoveries that have defined our university's commitment to improving and saving lives."
Support to establish the $10 million center came from multiple sources, including HistoSonics, Michigan Engineering and private donors.
A center for research and education
Initially, the histotripsy research center will take a three-pronged approach to bolstering research and education.
- A cancer program will focus on fundamental research as well as clinical and pre-clinical research to treat more cancer types, such as thyroid, pancreas, breast, prostate, brain, skin and sarcoma.
- A neuro program will work to advance histotripsy as a noninvasive treatment for brain diseases.
- An education program aims to build the next generation of histotripsy scientists, engineers and clinicians and chart the future of acoustic medicine. It will include programs for graduate students and postdocs.
Phase two of the center will focus on training clinicians who explore new treatment indications and push promising new human trials forward.
Broadening access to histotripsy testing equipment and expertise
The center's strategy is to make collaboration with outside institutions as easy as possible. Researchers can come to Ann Arbor to perform tests with the center's equipment-which is not commercially available, said Zhen Xu, the Li Ka Shing Professor of Biomedical Engineering, a professor of radiology and neurosurgery, and a co-inventor of histotripsy.
For researchers who cannot come to Ann Arbor, a histotripsy "travel system" of U-M's machines and experts can travel to locations around the U.S. free of charge.
"In the next half decade, I envision the Histotripsy Center expanding from our lab to support thousands of researchers around the country, conduct as many as 100 projects at one time, publish over 100 joint papers and file 50 patents a year," Xu said. "Using this high research productivity as a solid foundation, we expect to see 3-5 new FDA approvals for new diseases and to be able to treat hundreds of thousands of patients in the next five years."
A treatment for tumors and more
Histotripsy treatment targets tumors with highly precise sound waves, causing the gases within cancerous cells to create bubble clouds. The repeated expansion and collapse of those clouds breaks apart the tumor cell's structure. All that remains is a liquid that is eventually passed out of the body.
What sets histotripsy apart is its ability to destroy tumors without the physical and emotional toll that comes with surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation.
"The future of cancer care will be defined not only by greater precision and effectiveness, but by our ability to fundamentally reimagine the patient experience," said Thomas Wang, dean of the University of Michigan Medical School and chief academic officer at Michigan Medicine. "Histotripsy represents a remarkable step toward that future, offering an innovative, noninvasive approach to treating tumors while opening the door to entirely new possibilities in cancer care.
"What makes the Histotripsy Center particularly significant is its ability to bring innovation, clinical care and discovery together under one roof. Through rigorous research and collaboration, we can better understand the potential of histotripsy, refine its applications, and explore how this technology might evolve into new approaches to treating cancer and other complex conditions. The discoveries made here could help shape entirely new paradigms of care."
Bringing histotripsy to the world
In 2009, a small group of U-M engineers and doctors founded HistoSonics to commercialize histotripsy technology. Fourteen years later, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved histotripsy for treating liver tumors.
FDA authorization is expected for kidney and pancreas tumors in the next year. A new clinical trial for prostate hyperplasia is currently enrolling patients.
"The opening of the new center at U-M represents an exciting next chapter in the evolution of this groundbreaking science," said Mike Blue, HistoSonics' president and CEO. "It will play an important role in continuing to advance the technology, allow us to explore new applications with the potential to radically change the standard of care across many significant diseases, and ultimately unlock the full potential of histotripsy for patients around the world."
In June, HistoSonics reached a valuation of $3.75 billion and now employs roughly 500 people, with offices in Ann Arbor and corporate headquarters in Minnesota.
Xu and the University of Michigan have a financial interest in HistoSonics.
