Virtual movie on HIFU treatment and comments

To see the video click on the picture

The Ablatherm HIFU device is made up of 2 modules: the treatment module on which the patient is positioned and the control module which enables the surgeon to plan and check the treatment via a computerized system which guides the robotic endorectal probe. The probe is installed on a mobile support. The ultrasound generator and the integrated ultrasound scanning equipment (or transducers) are located on the end of the probe. The probe's mobile support is an instrument with robotic movements which enables the device to move the probe automatically and extremely precisely during the treatment to treat the whole prostate. After a local or general anaesthetic is administered, the patient lies down on his right hand side and stays in this position throughout the treatment. The probe is lubricated and then inserted into the rectum via the anus. This non-invasive position enables the probe to be positioned near the prostate, which is then accessible for ultrasound treatment.

The first phase of the treatment involves an ultrasound scan of the prostate. The computerized system will then recreate the prostate in 3 dimensions to enable the surgeon to plan the treatment on the screen and to program the robot to define the area to be treated. Once the treatment has been planned the shooting phase can begin. The robotic probe will then carry out the surgeon's instructions automatically and extremely precisely (orders are accurate to a few millimetres). Every 10 seconds the probe generates a high intensity focused ultrasound beam which is used to destroy a very small part of the prostate with intense, very fast, highly localised heat. This phenomenon generates almost no pain for the patient after treatment. This elementary lesion will be followed by a number of adjacent lesions, several hundred in fact, which gradually, one after the other, enable the entire prostate to be treated. The treatment then continues, lasting between one and a half and two and a half hours depending on the volume of the prostate.