NYU pioneers non-invasive cancer treatment with histotripsy [Video]

NEW YORK – When Chrissy Martinez found out she had stage four pancreatic cancer that had metastasized to her liver, she was told by doctors that her time left twas limited.

“I was told by doctors that there’s really not much they can do,” Martinez said. “They put me on palliative care to buy me some time, and I wasn’t okay with that.”

After being rejected from several places, Martinez ended up at NYU Hospital, where she met with Dr. Brock Hewitt and his medical team.

The medical team at NYU decided that Martinez would be a good cancer for a new non-invasive treatment called histotripsy.

“What histotripsy specifically is, it’s focused ultrasound that mechanically destroys the tissue,” said Dr. Hewitt. “It doesn’t use radiation. It doesn’t use heat. What it does is the focused radiation creates these tiny microbubbles, and those oscillate really fast. And what that does is that actually destroys …