Ablatherm vs Sonablate (Page 8 of 8)

Other Important Information

Infrared Motion Detection & Automatic Shut Off

If a patient moves during a HIFU procedure the treatment must be stopped immediately. Why? Simply put: because the target, which is the prostate, has moved. It could be the case that a structure (like the rectal wall) is now in the line of fire. The Ablatherm® uses an advanced infrared detection system to detect any patient movement. If the patient does move the treatment is stopped automatically and the physician checks to see if there are any problems. If movement goes undetected injury could result. Sonablate does not have this warning system and does not automatically cut off.

Treatment Time

Time is of the essence. The less time a patient is "under" during a procedure the better. HIFU, with the Ablatherm® takes, on average, between 1½ and 2 hours. That is considerably less than the time it takes to treat with the Sonablate 500.

It is hard to come by solid data regarding the Sonablate due to the absolute lack of published data. However, one of the few studies published in the medical literature clearly addressed the treatment time with the Sonablate: Uchida’s multicenter trial treated 72 patients who, on average, had a prostate volume of 22.1cc (this is a small average volume). The treatment time, as clearly stated in the paper was, on average, 169 minutes (2.8 hours) and ranged from 65 minutes (1.1 hours) to 485 minutes (8.1 hours).

A Note About TURPs

At Maple Leaf HIFU, fewer than 2% of patients required a TURP prior to Ablatherm HIFU treatment. A TURP will be required for excessively large prostates in order to treat using either of the devices. Failure to do so will result in leaving tissue (and potentially cancer) behind.