Ablatherm vs Sonablate (Page 5 of 8)

Real-Time Imaging: What Is It, Who Has It & Why Is It Important?

"Real-time imaging" is a continuously up-to-date image. Confused? Think of live football on television. If you are watching a football game live you are actively participating in real-time imaging. At every moment, the image on the screen is up-to-date and reflects what is going on at that split second in time.

When it comes to HIFU, real-time imaging means that during the treatment the physician is always looking at an up-to-date ultrasound image of the prostate. Although this is possible with both the Ablatherm® and Sonablate 500 devices there is a big difference between the two in terms of image quality. It is a simple law of physics that the higher the frequency of an ultrasound probe, the better the image quality.

The Ablatherm® uses an ultrasound crystal that operates at almost twice the frequency as the one used by the Sonablate. The significant difference between the image quality (4 MHz for the Sonablate and 7.5 MHz for the Ablatherm) is like watching regular television versus High-Definition Television. Consequently, the image generated by the Ablatherm® is much more crisp and clear and allows the physician to be much more accurate during the procedure. As a patient, this is what you want.

Simply put, you need high resolution for accurate cancer treatment. Sonablate touts its 3-D imaging and color Doppler as superior technology when the fact of the matter is that higher resolution imaging is the most important factor here. Ablatherm does not incorporate a color Doppler into its device because with a 7.5 MHz probe the region of the neurovascular bundle can be accurately located. Color Doppler is a necessity on the Sonablate device because of the low quality image provided by the 4 MHz transducer. The bottom line is image quality counts and improved image quality improves treatment quality.

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