Award for Focused Ultrasound work of Emeritus Fellow David Cranston

The Focused Ultrasound Foundation has designated the University of Oxford a Centre of Excellence in Focused Ultrasound. Oxford becomes the fifth Centre of Excellence in Europe and the eleventh worldwide. The recognition coincides with the University of Oxford’s celebration of Focused Ultrasound Day.

Focused ultrasound research has been a hallmark of the Oxford ecosystem since 2004. ‘Oxford has been one of the leading therapeutic ultrasound centres in the United Kingdom over the last 20 years,’ said Green Templeton Emeritus Fellow Professor David Cranston, and emeritus associate professor of surgery, founding clinical director of the Oxford High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) unit and president of The International Society of Minimally Invasive and Noninvasive Medicine (ISMINIM) from 2017-2023.

Professor Cranston oversaw the first European trials of extra-corporeal HIFU for liver and kidney ablation that resulted in the CE marking of Chongqing Haifu’s JC system and the launch of a clinical HIFU research facility in Oxford in 2002. He said,

‘We are absolutely delighted to be having a closer cooperation with the Focused Ultrasound Foundation in the United States through this award and in the growth of the Focused Ultrasound Foundation in the United Kingdom. We look forward to promoting the technology for the benefit of patients.’

The Centre of Excellence will be co-directed by Professor Constantin Coussios OBE FREng, Director of the Institute of Biomedical Engineering, and Dr Paul Lyon, FRCR DPhil, Senior Clinical Research Fellow in the Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences (NDS).

Established in 2009, the Centres of Excellence program recognises exceptional focused ultrasound sites throughout the world. The Centres serve as hubs for collaboration, bringing together academia, industry, and the Foundation to champion therapeutic ultrasound technology in innovative ways.

‘We are honoured to recognise the University of Oxford as one of the leading focused ultrasound sites in the world,’ said Neal F Kassell, MD, Founder and Chairman of the Focused Ultrasound Foundation. ‘The team is engaging in critical basic science and translational work that will reach more patients in the United Kingdom, Europe and globally, saving lives and accelerating the development and adoption of focused ultrasound technology.’

‘More than 700 patients have been screened for ablative or drug-delivery focused ultrasound treatments at Oxford, with some 250 patients treated to date’, said Centre of Excellence co-Director Dr Paul Lyon. ‘Having conducted the very first clinical trials of ultrasound-enhanced drug delivery outside the brain, we are presently advancing and pioneering clinical therapeutic ultrasound treatments, ranging from ablative techniques for pancreatic tumours and soft tissue sarcomas, to enhanced drug delivery for metastatic colorectal tumours in the liver, and ultrasound-stimulated neuromodulation and immuno-oncology.’