Urologists, uro-oncologists and urology department chairs from renowned American universities will spend a day at Jewish General Hospital
MONTREAL, QUEBEC - Urologists, uro-oncologists and urology department chairs from renowned American universities will spend a day - October 25, 2018 -- at Jewish General Hospital, a McGill University teaching hospital, where they will learn to perform a more precise outpatient prostate procedure called high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU). HIFU makes it possible to ablate diseased prostate tissue without the need to remove the prostate or damage critical structures that help control urinary and sexual function.
The doctors will assist in performing HIFU on three different patients, using Focal One, the next generation HIFU system which received FDA clearance in the U.S. in June 2018. Focal One fuses MRI and biopsy data with real-time ultrasound imaging. It gives urologists a detailed 3D view of the prostate and the area targeted for ablation, and allows them to direct ultrasound waves at very high speed with pinpoint precision. Using Focal One, doctors are able to minimize the damage to surrounding healthy tissue and thereby minimize the patient's risk of incontinence and impotence.
"After Health Canada approved Focal One in 2015, our hospital was the first in the country to acquire the new system," said Maurice Anidjar, MD, Professor of Urology at Mc Gill University and Chief of Uro-oncology at the Jewish General Hospital. "Since that time our uro-surgeons have successfully performed over 100 HIFU procedures. We are pleased to be able to pass on a copious amount of experience to U.S. urologists and train them in delivering precisely targeted prostate tissue ablation, using the most advanced HIFU technology available today."
HIFU has become an important option for men with localized prostate cancer because it reduces the risks of impotence and incontinence often associated with radical prostatectomy, cryotherapy and radiation. The Focal One HIFU system, manufactured by EDAP TMS, has been available in the U.S. since June 2018, and is in use in Europe, Canada and South America.
Currently, more than 100 urologists around the world have been trained on Focal One to perform the HIFU procedure. Altogether, more than 350 centers worldwide are delivering the HIFU procedure using EDAP's technology, with the majority of centers using Focal One.