US Medical International Medical

Sonablate®

In 1999, Misonix obtained a 20% equity position in Focus Surgery, a company leading the way in High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) technology. Misonix manufactures the product for Focus Surgery. Misonix also markets the SB500 in the United Kingdom, Europe and Russia.


Sonablate 500

HIFU is a noninvasive surgical procedure requiring no incisions. In Europe, doctors have had the greatest experience in using HIFU in treating cancer of the prostate. The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) has recently recommended the use of HIFU for the treatment of prostate cancer in the United Kingdom.



How it works

For a prostate cancer therapy to be successful, it needs to be able to destroy the whole prostate (men have prostate cancers rather than prostate cancer) and at the same time preserve the vital structures around the gland that are involved in normal bladder emptying, preservation of continence and preservation of erectile and orgasmic function.

HIFU has the potential to achieve this by virtue of the size of the target lesion that it creates. HIFU works by focusing a pulse of high-energy ultrasound waves onto single location about the size of a grain of rice. The delivery of this energy to such a small area results in an increase in temperature to a point where the lipids (fats) in the cell membrane melt and the proteins denature. A reproducible but small volume of tissue destruction occurs. The distribution of these target lesions is under the control of the physician. During the planning phase of the treatment, ultrasound is used to delineate the prostate in two dimensions. Targeting can be planned in order to avoid the urinary sphincter, rectum, and possibly the neurovascular bundles (as preservation of these may preserve erectile function). Once the treatment plan is established, the treatment is both driven and monitored by a computer program within the HIFU delivery system.

Treatment time is usually 3-4 hours. Usually patients will be discharged the same day, or next day at the doctors discretion.

HIFU Treatment focal zones

An important difference between HIFU and many other forms of focused energy, such as radiation therapy or radio surgery, is that the passage of ultrasound energy through intervening tissue has no apparent cumulative effect on that tissue. In contrast, radiation therapy has a cumulative, damaging effect on healthy tissues, even when they are distant from the focal target. This often limits the ability to use this modality more than once for a specific treatment.

The advantages of HIFU treatments are:

Clinical Studies

Clinical Sites

The following sites use the SB500. People seeking treatment should contact:

Austria
  • Austria
    • Klinik fuer Urologie der Universitat Wien
      Prof. Dr. Michael Marberger
      Prof. Dr. Georg Schatzl
      Wahringer Guertel 18-20
      A-1090 Vienna, Austria
      Email. uroldep@meduniwien.ac.at
Belgium
Germany
  • Germany
    • Dr. Joachim Deuster
      Klinik fur Prostata - Therapie am Bruckenkopf
      Bruckenkopfstr. 1/2
      D-69120 Heidelberg. Germany
      Email. dr.deuster@deuster.de
    • Prof. Dr. Rolf Muschter Diakoniekrankenhaus
      Elise-Averdieck-Str.17, D-27356
      Rotenburg/Wumme, Germany
      E-mail. Muschter@diako-online.de
    • Prof. Thomas Ebert Euro-Med-Clinic Urology
      Europa-Allee 1,
      D-90763 Furth, Germany
      Email. ebert@euro-med-clinic.de
Italy
  • Italy
    • Universita' Degli Studi Di Perugia
      Prof. Massimo Porena
      Dott. Luigi Mearini
      Policlinico Monteluce
      Via Brunamonti 51
      06100 Perugia, Italy
      Email. luigi.mearini@tin.it
    • Ospedale San Giovanni Bosco - Rep. Urologia
      Dott. Giovanni Muto
      Dott. Leonardo D'Urso
      Piazza Donatore di Sangue 3
      10154 Torino, Italy
      Email. G.muto@tin.it
United Kingdom
  • United Kingdom
    • Mr. Mark Emberton
      Senior Lecturer on Oncological Urology
      Institute of Urology
      University College Hospital
      48 Riding House Street
      London W1W 7EY, UK
      Email. memberton@dial.pipex.com
    • Mr. Simon Brewster
      The Churchill Hospital
      Old Road, Headington
      GB-Oxford OX37LJ, UK
      Email. lisi@brewsters.fsnet.co.uk
    • Princess Grace Hospital
      42-52 Nottingham Place
      London W1M 3FD, UK
      Mr. M. Emberton & Mr. Ch. Ogden

Future Applications

Misonix is working with Focus Surgery to use HIFU in the treatment of Kidney and Liver Cancer. This would entail using a laparoscopic approach to bring the probe and transducer to the outside of the organ. Using Ultrasound imaging, the Doctor would then target the zone he wants to treat. Procedure time is estimated to be about 10 minutes for a 2-3 cm. lesion.