Phase-changeable nanoparticle-mediated energy conversion promotes highly efficient high-intensity focused ultrasound ablation

This review describes how phase-changeable nanoparticles enable highly-efficient high-intensity focused ultrasound ablation (HIFU). HIFU is effective in the clinical treatment of solid malignant tumors; however, it has intrinsic disadvantages for treating some deep le-sions, such as damage to surrounding normal tissues. When phase-changeable nanoparticles are used in HIFU treatment, they could serve as good synergistic agents because they are transported in the blood and permeated and accumulated effectively in tissues. HIFU's ther-mal effects can trigger nanoparticles to undergo a special phase transition, thus enhancing HI-FU ablation efficiency. Nanoparticles can also carry anticancer agents and release them in the targeted area to achieve chemo-synergistic therapy response. Although the formation of nano-particles is complicated and HIFU applications are still in an early stage, the potential for their use in synergy with HIFU treatment shows promising results.