# Investigating treatment strategies & clinical outcomes of histotripsy for complete ablation of osteosarcoma

> **NIH NIH F31** · VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INST AND ST UNIV · 2024 · $43,782

## Abstract

Project Summary
Osteosarcoma (OS) is a common and devastating primary bone tumor affecting both humans and canines.
Histotripsy is an emerging non-thermal ablation modality that uses high-pressure focused ultrasound pulses to
induce acoustic cavitation and liquify target tissue with high precision. Our team has pioneered the development
of histotripsy for bone tumors with critical ex vivo and in vivo studies using excised canine OS tumors and pet
dogs with spontaneous OS, respectively. Dogs have an increased incidence of OS with high similarity to human
OS, allowing the pet dog to serve as a valuable comparative oncology model. This proposal seeks to further the
development of histotripsy for OS treatment by 1) investigating the treatment parameters & strategies needed
for complete ablation in ex vivo canine OS, and 2) testing these strategies in pilot clinical trials with acute and
chronic follow-up of pet dogs with histotripsy-treated OS. Throughout these experiments, I will be trained in vital
skills in bio-engineering and clinical oncology, including transmit-receive circuitry (Dr. Tim Hall at University of
Michigan), histopathological analysis of ablation (Dr. Sheryl Coutermarsh-Ott at Virginia-Maryland College of
Veterinary Medicine), and radiological assessment of ablation (Dr. Tim Ziemlewicz at University of Wisconsin).
The results of this work will overcome previous technical & engineering barriers in achieving complete ablation
of bone tumors and will provide crucial safety & feasibility data to guide and inform the clinical translation of
histotripsy as a non-invasive limb salvage treatment for OS.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10998439
- **Project number:** 1F31CA294976-01
- **Recipient organization:** VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INST AND ST UNIV
- **Principal Investigator:** Elliana Rose Vickers
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $43,782
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-07-10 → 2026-07-09

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10998439

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10998439, Investigating treatment strategies & clinical outcomes of histotripsy for complete ablation of osteosarcoma (1F31CA294976-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-07-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10998439. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*