The following news conference will take place in the Whidbey Room of the Westin Seattle Hotel, 1900 Fifth Avenue, Seattle, Washington. It will occur at an international meeting devoted exclusively to the science of acoustics: the Joint 16th International Congress on Acoustics (ICA) and the 135th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA), to take place between June 20-26 at the Seattle Sheraton Hotel and Towers and the Westin Seattle. A news release on the meeting can be found at http://www.acoustics.org/press_release.html.

Acoustic Surgery

When one thinks of ultrasound in medicine, one traditionally envisions using sound to break up kidney stones and to take pictures of fetuses. In intriguing experimental studies, scientists are demonstrating that ultrasound can perform surgical tasks such as break up tumors, remove unwanted tissue, and stop internal bleeding. Naren Sanghvi of Focus Surgery, Inc. in Indianapolis (317-541-1580) will discuss a technique for using ultrasound to remove diseased prostate tissue (Paper 2pBV6). Larry Crum (206-685-8622) of the University of Washington (and President of ASA) will describe experiments with high-intensity ultrasound which show how one can significantly reduce the oozing and bleeding that traditionally hinders liver surgery (2aBV3). Gail ter Haar of the Royal Marsden Hospital in England (011-44-181-642-6011; [email protected]) will report encouraging experimental trials in which ultrasound removed the desired portions of kidney, prostate, and liver tumors in human patients (2pBV4).

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION BEFORE JUNE 22: Please feel free to call Ben Stein of the American Institute of Physics at 301-209-3091. To read the abstracts of the papers mentioned in the news conference description, go to the ICA/ASA Meeting Abstracts Database (asa.aip.org/asasearch.html) and type in the paper code. See also the lay language paper at http://www.acoustics.org/crum.htm

FOR ADDITIONAL INFO DURING THE WEEK OF JUNE 22 Please feel free to call Ben Stein at the meeting newsroom: 206-727-7617 and 206-727-7618. The newsroom will be located at the Blakely Room of the Westin, and the hours will be Monday-Wednesday, June 22-24, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., and Thursday, June 25 from 8 a.m.-12 p.m.