Director of Urology, The Alfred Hospital Monash University Department of Surgery Melbourne, Australia.

A/Prof Peter Royce is Australia’s most experienced Urologist using HIFU for the treatment of prostate cancer. Since the first HIFU treatment in November 2005, a select number of men have chosen HIFU, instead of radical surgery or radiation therapy, as curative primary treatment or as salvage treatment after previous radiation therapy.

HIFU is a safe, effective and minimal invasive technology for treatment of localised prostate cancer.

The HIFU device is the Sonablate 500 (Sonacare USA) utilising a transrectal probe which is inserted into the rectum under anaesthesia. A crystal within the probe vibrates at a specific frequency when an electric current passes through it, and this produces ultrasound waves, which are then focused using a curved ceramic plate. The ultrasound waves pass through tissue and some of the waves are reflected back to the crystal producing an image of the prostate and its surrounding structures on a computer screen, which can be monitored by the Urologist. At the same time, by increasing the intensity of the ultrasound waves and focusing the waves on a single point (like a magnifying lens), high energy is delivered to the prostate tissue, resulting in prostate tissue ablation.