The application of minimally invasive techniques in the treatment of prostate cancer has been a long time coming. Several other urologic disease conditions have already seen minimally invasive solutions: Extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy for kidney stones, cooled thermotherapy for symptoms of prostatic enlargement and urethral bulking for stress urinary incontinence, just to name a few.

You may be asking yourself, “What exactly are minimally invasive techniques?” Well it's just like it sounds; doing as little as possible to the patient to attain a surgical result. The ultimate minimally invasive technique would be waving a magic wand across an ailing patient and fixing a problem deep inside. Well, things have gotten just about that good these days!

Just think, our technology has gotten to the point that we can now eliminate a patient's prostate (and the cancer inside it) by shining energy through his rectum. Not only that, we can stay away from the closely applied nerves which produce his erections and totally avoid the external sphincter, the urinary on and off valve.

That has always been the appeal of radiation therapy, to cure cancer without surgically having to remove it. Surely nobody likes to be operated on. But where radiation falls short is in its poor “surgical accuracy” and in trying to not kill or damage the tissue it has to go through to get to the tissue it wants to kill. That's where HIFU succeeds where radiation fails. HIFU energy only kills the tissue it intends to kill, without damaging anything near it. Stay tuned, this same technology will soon be applied to target various tumors deep in our bodies through the skin. Almost like a magic wand might!!!

Sonablate® HIFU is only approved for investigational use in the United States and is currently in FDA-approved Phase III clinical studies. Sonablate® HIFU is available in other countries worldwide for localized prostate disease.