REAL-TIME TISSUE CHANGE MONITORING DURING PROSTATE HIFU
In my practice, I have always strived to combine top scientific evidence with individualized treatment planning. As part of this initiative I have long been intrigued by and involved with HIFU (High Intensity Focused Ultrasound). While I have found HIFU to be highly effective right from the start, one enhancement I've wished for is a more concrete way to assess the zones of destruction (called the ablation zone) in real time, meaning during the HIFU treatment itself. While I have always been confident in my own method for HIFU planning and treatment it would be doubly nice to have immediate feedback during the procedure.
Now I have good news to report! The engineers at US HIFU have released new technology that allows the HIFU Sonablate system to provide real-time, step-by-step evidence that uniform clinical ablation is indeed being accomplished. It's called Tissue Change Monitoring (TCM), and it gives me greater certitude right at the time of the treatment. Here's how it works.
During the HIFU procedure, ultrasound beams are focused on targeted prostate tissue. As the temperature quickly increases the targeted tissue is destroyed. The actual process involves moving the applicator on its robotic arm so that multiple "shots" are juxtaposed according to my planning protocol. Now with the new TMC software a signal is sent to the ablation site just prior to each delivery of HIFU, and then another signal is sent to the exact same site immediately after HIFU delivery. The signal registers tissue change. The TCM software then calculates the change and translates it on my screen as a band of color over the treated area. TCM allows me to observe a color-coded display overlaid on the ultrasound image of the patient's prostate gland. The range of colors is the evidence I need. I now can see how the tissue is responding, and alter the procedure if needed. And TMC not only helps me to see the destroyed tissue, but also the healthy tissue targeted to be spared.
I congratulate the engineers and dedicated staff who worked tirelessly to develop and perfect the TMC software. Because of their hard work I now have improved ability to monitor the success of HIFU as I'm performing each treatment. This breakthrough is truly revolutionary in prostate cancer heat-based ablation. With the addition of TMC I now can target, destroy, confirm and move-on with greater precision.
With the added value of TMC, and its ability to integrate real-time feedback, I am more confident than ever in the HIFU technology.
Don't you just love it when something that already works well, gets even better?