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Professional Focus

Dr. Diederich's primary research activities include the design and development of ultrasound devices, support systems, and procedures for applying targeted hyperthermia and high-temperature thermal therapy. The application of hyperthermia or moderate thermal therapy (40-45 °C) to tissue may be used to significantly enhance radiation therapy, chemotherapy, gene therapy, immunotherapy, and drug delivery/activation (e.g., nanoparticles). High temperature (50-80+ °C) thermal therapy is currently used to outright destroy tumors or permanently change the physical properties of tissue. These ultrasound devices can produce shaped heating patterns and are more controllable than other modalities, thus potentially providing more conformable heating, better response and lower complication rates; the technology has demonstrated potential for cancer therapy, treatment of non-malignant disease, and tissue structural modification. The Thermal Therapy Research Group at UCSF is concentrating efforts on developing and employing highly controllable ultrasound heating technology to these various clinical problems, with a significant component being devoted to the treatment of cancer. This includes the development of implantable and catheter-based ultrasound devices as well as techniques for using MRI to monitor & control the resulting temperature distributions and zones of hyperthermia or thermal coagulation. Current studies with these devices will investigate image-based targeting of hyperthermia, thermally-targeted drug delivery, ultrasound assisted drug delivery, and hyperthermic enhancement of tissue oxygenation in sites such as prostate, cervix, and brain. Additional activities include the characterization and evaluation of existing ultrasound, microwave, and RF equipment currently in clinical use or under development. Clinically directed research efforts have led to innovations and recent implementations of devices such as interstitial ultrasound applicators for heating prostate or cervix in conjunction with HDR brachytherapy, and include Investigational Device Exemptions from the FDA for use of equipment in clinic as well as protocol development.

Education

Professional Experience

Awards & Honors

Recent Significant Publications

Prakash P, Salgaonkar VA, Clif Burdette E, Diederich CJ., Multiple applicator hepatic ablation with interstitial ultrasound devices: theoretical and experimental investigation. Med Phys. 2012 Dec;39(12):7338-49.

Salgaonkar VA, Prakash P, Diederich CJ., Temperature superposition for fast computation of 3D temperature distributions during optimization and planning of interstitial ultrasound hyperthermia treatments. Int J Hyperthermia. 2012;28(3):235-49.

Prakash P, Diederich CJ., Considerations for theoretical modelling of thermal ablation with catheter-based ultrasonic sources: implications for treatment planning, monitoring and control. Int J Hyperthermia. 2012;28(1):69-86.

Wootton JH, Prakash P, Hsu IC, Diederich CJ., Implant strategies for endocervical and interstitial ultrasound hyperthermia adjunct to HDR brachytherapy for the treatment of cervical cancer. Phys Med Biol. 2011 Jul 7;56(13):3967-84. Epub 2011 Jun 10.

Wootton JH, Hsu IC, Diederich CJ., Endocervical ultrasound applicator for integrated hyperthermia and HDR brachytherapy in the treatment of locally advanced cervical carcinoma. Med Phys. 2011 Feb;38(2):598-611.

Sciubba DM, Burdette EC, Cheng JJ, Pennant WA, Noggle JC, Petteys RJ, Alix C, Diederich CJ, Fichtinger G, Gokaslan ZL, Murphy KP., Percutaneous computed tomography fluoroscopy-guided conformal ultrasonic ablation of vertebral tumors in a rabbit tumor model. Laboratory investigation. J Neurosurg Spine. 2010 Dec;13(6):773-9.

Stauffer PR, Maccarini P, Arunachalam K, Craciunescu O, Diederich C, Juang T, Rossetto F, Schlorff J, Milligan A, Hsu J, Sneed P, Vujaskovic Z., Conformal microwave array (CMA) applicators for hyperthermia of diffuse chest wall recurrence. Int J Hyperthermia. 2010;26(7):686-98. Review.

Chen X, Diederich CJ, Wootton JH, Pouliot J, Hsu IC., Optimisation-based thermal treatment planning for catheter-based ultrasound hyperthermia. Int J Hyperthermia. 2010 Feb;26(1):39-55.

Dewey WC, Diederich CJ, Dewhirst MW., Hyperthermia classic commentary: 'Arrhenius relationships from the molecule and cell to the clinic' by William Dewey, Int. J. Hyperthermia, 10:457-483, 1994. Int J Hyperthermia. 2009 Feb;25(1):21-4.

Diederich CJ, Nau WH, Kinsey A, Ross T, Wootton J, Juang T, Butts-Pauly K, Rieke V, Chen J, Bouley DM, Sommer G., Catheter-based ultrasound devices and MR thermal monitoring for conformal prostate thermal therapy. Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2008;2008:3664-8.

Kinsey AM, Diederich CJ, Rieke V, Nau WH, Pauly KB, Bouley D, Sommer G., Transurethral ultrasound applicators with dynamic multi-sector control for prostate thermal therapy: in vivo evaluation under MR guidance. Med Phys. 2008 May;35(5):2081-93.

Chen J, Daniel BL, Diederich CJ, Bouley DM, van den Bosch MA, Kinsey AM, Sommer G, Pauly KB., Monitoring prostate thermal therapy with diffusion-weighted MRI. Magn Reson Med. 2008 Jun;59(6):1365-72.

Jing Chen, Bruce L. Daniel, Chris J. Diederich, Donna M. Bouley, Maurice A.A.J. van den Bosch, Adam M. Kinsey, Graham Sommer, Kim Butts Pauly (2008). Monitoring Prostate Thermal Therapy with Diffusion-Weighted MRI, Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 59(6):1365-72.

Adam M. Kinsey, Chris J. Diederich, Viola Rieke, William H. Nau, Kim Butts Pauly, Donna Bouley, Graham Sommer (2008). Transurethral ultrasound applicators with dynamic multi-sector control for prostate thermal therapy: In vivo evaluation under MR guidance, Medical Physics, 35(5) 2081-2093.

Wootton JH, Ross AB, Diederich CJ., Prostate thermal therapy with high intensity transurethral ultrasound: the impact of pelvic bone heating on treatment delivery. Int J Hyperthermia. 2007 Dec;23(8):609-22.

Rieke V, Kinsey AM, Ross AB, Nau WH, Diederich CJ, Sommer G, Butts Pauly K (2007). Referenceless MR Thermometry for Monitoring Thermal Ablation in the Prostate, IEEE Trans Medical Imaging, 26(6) 813-821.

Kim Butts Pauly, Chris J. Diederich, Viola Rieke, Donna Bouley, Jean Chen, Will H. Nau, Anthony B. Ross, Adam M. Kinsey, and Graham Sommer (2007). Magnetic Resonance-Guided High-Intensity Ultrasound Ablation of the Prostate, Top Magn Reson Imaging, Vol. 17, June.

Nau WH, Diederich CJ, Shu R, Kinsey A, Bass E, Lotz J, et al. (2007). Intradiscal thermal therapy using interstitial ultrasound: an in vivo investigation in ovine cervical spine. Spine;32(5):503-11.

Diederich CJ., Society of Thermal Medicine Robinson Award 2007.
Int J Hyperthermia. 2007 Aug;23(5):473-4.

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