The Department of Biomedical Engineering presents Eli Vlaisavljevich, NSF Fellow in Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan; Monday, October 21 – 4:00 pm in 129 Fisher;
Title: Histotripsy for non-invasive liver cancer ablation
and Students Perspective on Graduate School and Research
Abstract: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) or liver cancer is one of the fastest growing cancers in the United States. Liver transplantation and surgical resection of liver tumors are proven treatment options but are associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality. Further, surgical resection or transplantation is not possible in many cases such as patients with decompensated cirrhosis. Current liver ablation methods are primarily thermal-based and share limitations due to the heat sink effect from blood flow through the highly vascular liver such as ineffective abla-tion near major vessels and unrealistic treatment times for larger tumors. We are developing histotripsy for the non-invasive treatment of liver cancer. Histotripsy is a non-thermal ultrasonic ablation method that fractionates tissue through the precise control of acoustic cavitation. Since histotripsy is non-thermal, it is not affected by the heat sink effect from blood vessels and does not share the limitations associated with thermal ablation methods. We are cur-rently working to develop histotripsy as a non-invasive liver cancer ablation technique capable of selectively ablating liver tumors while preserving the healthy tissue and major hepatic vessels surrounding the tumors.
Biography: Eli Vlaisavljevich graduated from Michigan Tech University in 2010 with a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering and is a currently pursuing his Ph.D in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Michigan. In addition to his research presentation, Eli will also give a brief overview of his experience in Ann Arbor and provide some information about graduate opportunities at the University of Michigan.