KNI Teams With Researchers, Premier Radiology and Borgess Women's Health To Advance Ablation Treatment

While MR imaging is renowned for diagnosis, it also appears to have a bright future for treatment.

Four Kalamazoo-based medical practices worked together to conduct a clinical trial of a non-invasive way to treat uterine fibroids, a problem that accounts for about 20 percent of all visits to a gynecologist in the United States.

Participating in the trial were KNI/Southwest Michigan Imaging Center, the Borgess Research Institute, Premier Radiology and Borgess Women's Health.

Under the trial protocol, eligible women were treated with highly targeted ultrasound while an MRI unit provides the precise location of the fibroids to guide the ultrasound beam.

A device called the ExAblate 2000 System has been purchased by KNI. The trials were conducted in 2006 in cooperation with GE Healthcare.

Clinical trials have taken place at other medical centers to see if the same MRI-guided ultrasound ablation procedure can be used to treat breast, liver, prostate and other cancers. Similar trials for the treatment of cancers may be done here later.

ExAblate 2000 was approved in October 2004 by the Food and Drug Administration to treat fibroids but only with a 1.5-Tesla MRI unit. The clinical trial here used a more powerful and equally safe 3-Tesla MRI.

A Tesla is a measure of a magnet's strength.

KNI has two, 3-Tesla MRI units. The clinical trials will be conducted on the one serving outpatients at 1700 Gull Road, near Borgess Medical Center. KNI also has a 1-Tesla, high-field open magnet at that location. The other 3-Tesla unit is at the NeuroInstitute of Southwest Michigan on the Borgess campus.

The Borgess Research Institute monitored the progress of patients. who underwent treatment free of charge, including a series of follow-up visits.

Uterine fibroid tumors are not cancerous but can cause a variety of problems, including heavy menstrual bleeding, anemia, pelvic discomfort or frequent urination. The standard of care is surgery, most often a hysterectomy. While effective, a hysterectomy requires a prolonged recovery and carries risks associated with any major surgery.