Table 1.

Comparison of focused ultrasound (FUS) and laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT)

	FUS82	LITT
Mechanism for target ablation	HIFU to raise temperature through acoustic energy	Laser to raise temperature through heat energy
Mechanism for opening BBB	HIFU/LIFU + microbubbles to temporarily disrupt endothelial tight junction	Unknown
Simultaneous use of MRI thermometry	Yes	Yes
Invasiveness	Noninvasive, can be performed with mild sedation	Invasive, must be performed under general anesthesia
Precision	<1mm	1.5mm +/−0.7mm
Current usage in lesion ablation
Primary brain neoplasm	Phase I	Clinical use
Metastatic disease	Phase I	Clinical use
Radiation necrosis		Clinical use
Epilepsy	Phase I	Clinical use
Essential tremor	Phase II	Clinical use
Parkinson’s disease	Phase I	None
Major depressive disorder	Phase I	None
Obsessive compulsive disorder	Phase I	None
Trigeminal neuralgia	Phase I	None
Current usage in BBB modulation
Brain tumor and chemotherapy enhancement	Phase I and II	Phase I
Alzheimer’s disease	Phase I and II	None