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Definition
By Mayo Clinic staff
Focused ultrasound surgery is a treatment option for uterine fibroids — noncancerous growths of the uterus. The procedure is noninvasive and preserves your uterus. Focused ultrasound surgery — also called focused ultrasound ablation — is performed while you're inside a magnetic resonance (MR) scanner equipped with a high-energy ultrasound transducer for treatment.
During the procedure, MR images give your doctor the precise location of the uterine fibroids to be treated and the locations of nearby structures, such as the bowel and bladder, to be avoided. Then the ultrasound transducer is used to send focused sound waves (sonications) into the fibroid to heat and destroy small areas of tissue. A pelvic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan is typically performed before treatment to determine whether you're a good candidate for focused ultrasound surgery.
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