The Edison Histotripsy System has made its Asia-Pacific debut.

Thanks to a partnership agreement by its manufacturer, HistoSonics, and a donation from the Li Ka Shing Foundation, Hong Kong University has received its first histotripsy system. Led by Founder Li Ka-shing, the Foundation is a prolific global philanthropic organization with a focused effort in Hong Kong, and is responsible to date for more than hk$30 billion in projects involving education, medical services, charity, and anti-poverty programs. As part of the Foundation’s focus on bringing innovative medical advancements to Hong Kong, the Foundation provided the capital to acquire two initial histotripsy systems to public hospitals in Hong Kong—one each to the University of Hong Kong and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. The latter facility will receive the second histotripsy system early next year.
 
Histotripsy is a novel form of focused ultrasound that uses high amplitude, very short pulses to create a “bubble cloud” that is designed to mechanically destroy and liquefy targeted liver tumors. These bubble clouds form and collapse in microseconds, creating mechanical forces strong enough to destroy tissue at cellular and sub-cellular levels in a non-invasive and non-thermal method. Histotripsy offers a promising alternative for patients with liver tumors to avoid certain side effects like surgical site infections, bleeding, and radiation toxicity common to other treatments such as surgery and radiation therapy. HistoSonics believes the novel mechanism of action of its proprietary technology may provide significant advantages to patients, including the ability of the treatment site to recover and resorb quickly. “Treating tumors using the HistoSonics Histotripsy System by forming microbubbles is fascinating,” Ka-shing said.  

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 Experts in liver treatment from the University of Hong Kong and the Chinese University of Hong Kong underwent training over the summer at HistoSonics headquarters in Minneapolis, Minn.

“We could not be more excited to partner with these two university hospitals to be the first in Hong Kong to offer our novel therapy to their patients,” HistoSonics President/CEO Mike Blue stated. “Unfortunately, Asia carries a substantial proportion of the world’s population suffering from diseases that cause liver tumors and based on the experiences from our U.S. launch, we are confident we can begin to make an immediate impact on the quality of life of many of the patients who need it most in this region. We are very grateful for the Foundation’s gift and Mr. Li’s personal interest in helping patients in Hong Kong.” 

Both Hong Kong based hospitals will be eligible to enroll patients in HistoSonics’ prospective study and post-market clinical program, called BOOMBOX, which aims to collect data across a broad number of clinical use cases, and liver tumor pathologies, observing the use of histotripsy across all stages of liver disease.
 
The Edison Histotripsy System is indicated for the non-invasive destruction of liver tumors, including unresectable liver tumors, using a non-thermal, mechanical process of focused ultrasound.
 
HistoSonics is a privately held medical device company developing a non-invasive platform and proprietary sonic beam therapy utilizing the science of histotripsy, a novel mechanism of action that uses focused ultrasound to mechanically destroy and liquify unwanted tissue and tumors. The company is currently focused on commercializing its Edison Histotripsy System in the United States and the HistoSonics Histotripsy System in select global markets for liver treatment while expanding histotripsy applications into other organs like kidney, pancreas, and others. HistoSonics has offices in Ann Arbor, Mich., and Minneapolis.