HIFU stands for High Intensity Focused Ultrasound. Ultrasound, soundwaves well beyond the hearing capability of humans, has multiple uses in the medical field. One of the most important uses for ultrasound is non-invasive imaging of internal organs and blood flow. Ultrasound has been in use for medical purposes for many years and is considered harmless. It allows one to "see" internal organs such as the kidneys and the liver, as well as the fetus in pregnant women.
However, when the ultrasound energy is focused in a small area, it can cause permanent damage to tissue. To understand it, compare it to sunlight. When the skin is exposed for a short time, there is no discernable damage to the skin. However, concentrate the sunlight via a magnifying glass, and one can cause a nasty burn in the focal area, even when exposed for a short time.
Unlike light, ultrasound will pass through tissues such as the skin and the rectum without damaging it, but it will destroy the deeper tissue in the focal zone, which is 3 mm x 10-12 mm (about the size of a grain of rice). In this focal zone the tissue is rapidly heated to just below boiling point, permanently destroying it, while leaving the tissues it just passed through intact.
Since there's no radiation, adjacent structures like the rectum, bladder, and neurovascular bundles aren't irradiated. Radiation can cause all sorts of problems for patients, like bowel and bladder problems, bleeding and erectile dysfunction.
The procedure takes a few hours and patients are typically back to normal within a couple of weeks. The recovery time is shorter and has fewer side effects than the common treatments for prostate cancer.
Speak directly with a HIFU consultant today - call 877-458-4438 for more information.
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Benefits of HIFU with Sonablate 500
