What is HIFU

High Intensity Focused Ultrasound, or HIFU, is a therapy that destroys tissue with rapid heat elevation, which essentially "cooks" the tissue. Ultrasound energy, or sound waves, is focused at a specific location and at that "focal point" the temperature raises to 90 degrees Celsius in a matter of seconds.

hifu lesions labeled

Over 6000 men, in nearly 100 HIFU centers worldwide, have already chosen HIFU with the Sonablate® 500, because it is the most advanced HIFU therapy available. Discover HIFU and to see if you qualify!

What Sets us Apart?

What sets our clinic apart is our unending drive to do for the patient and the disease what is required while understanding that all patients are not candidates for this treatment at the time of clinical presentation. Success with HIFU is no different than success with any other treatment. Success is defined by treating a population with prostate cancer who are proven to have organ confined cancer. Failure diminishes our mission for success because a PSA may be too high, cancer cells were spread unknowingly through a simple biopsy procedure, cancer cells were in the seminal vesicles and we didn’t know it, or the prostate was too big or had too much calcification to be treated appropriately. You will be able to see the difference in just one phone call to our clinic in consultation with me or a short plane ride to validate our center of operation. Because the decision you make about prostate cancer will be the most significant for the rest of your life, you deserve the best. Allow me and my staff to raise the bar on the doctor patient relationship and join you on your journey to a successful outcome from your HIFU experience.

Why should I consider a prostate mapping MRI scan if I have had a HIFU procedure in India?

There are multiple reasons for a patient who has had a HIFU (high intensity focused ultrasound) procedure to consider a 3.0 Tesla MRI-Spectroscopy scan. Most noteworthy is for patients who have not nadired their PSA value at less than 0.5 ng/ml, following the procedure. This could be the first sign and the best sign that residual tissue present may be consistent with prostate cancer. Given the fact that HIFU is recognized as a definitive treatment for prostate cancer, it is generally expected that all cells treated have been ablated or destroyed by the intense thermal energy delivered; assuming that patient selection process was appropriate. Spectroscopy associated with the most precise objective diagnostic imaging technique worldwide will define cells as alive or dead based on the metabolic profile or ratio of cellular by-products: choline, creatine and citrate. An MRI-Spectroscopy scan would be the preferred method of disease evaluation when compared to biopsy. Specifically, it would not be prudent to have a biopsy when it is well known that biopsies spread cancer cells even in a post treatment setting. Remember, you can’t cure a disease once it has escaped the prostate capsule. Once it is determined that residual cells are cancerous, a salvage procedure can be scheduled including a repeat HIFU procedure.

Similarly, a rising PSA value following HIFU would suggest a less than complete ablative procedure and the return of cancer prompting an MRI-S scan. The scan will identify a specific target or region of interest (ROI) for a subsequent treatment. I generally recommend an interval of 6 months to pass prior to performing a scan to allow for an adequate healing process to have taken place. Beyond this, there are many men who want to know with certainty that the ‘scourge of prostate cancer’ has been totally eliminated. There is a deep sense of relief and satisfaction knowing that the disease has been adequately treated, allowing a man to get on with his life. Men with questions are encouraged to speak with their HIFU surgeon or call our ‘Center of Excellence’ for updated information, availability or scheduling.