Cabell Huntington Hospital using new ultrasound tech in liver cancer treatment
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Cabell Huntington Hospital using new ultrasound tech in liver cancer treatment
Robert Fields | WVOW News
HUNTINGTON Cabell Huntington Hospital is making medical strides in the Mountain State.
Dr. Paul Blom, an interventional radiologist with Radiology, Inc., used a procedure known has histotripsy to treat a patient’s liver tumor. There was no surgical incision, no needles and no radiation or chemotherapy. The patient was taken in on an outpatient basis and was being taken home within hours of treatment.
The procedure was made possible using a $1.3 million machine known as an Edison Histotripsy System. It uses image-guided ultrasounds to create microscopic bubbles in the affected tissue, helping to break down the tumor while leaving healthy liver tissue unharmed. The patient does go into the procedure under general anesthesia, but according to Cabell Huntington Hospital, that’s to limit movement under the focused ultrasound rather than any form of pain management.
According to an article published in 2025 in the journal Cancers by providers with the Digestive Disease & Surgery Institute at Cleveland Clinic's Department of General Surgery, the procedure has been effective in disease control, alleviation of symptoms and improved quality of life for patients with tumors that could not be safely operated on using other common methods of cancer treatment.
Cabell Huntington Hospital acquired the system through a gift from the Cabell Huntington Hospital Auxiliary and is the first facility in West Virginia to offer the noninvasive procedure.
