Focal One

Prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer among men in France. To treat it, Elsan has acquired Focal One – state-of-the art equipment that uses ultrasound emission, offering an innovative alternative to traditional techniques (surgery or radiotherapy). The use of this mobile device has been rolled out throughout France. Today, it allows the urology departments in a large number of our clinics to offer their local communities a solution that reduces the impact of treatment on the patient.

Preserve the patient’s quality of life

A non-invasive procedure, it requires no incision and therefore doesn’t cause scarring. The technology also significantly reduces the risk of complications following treatment, such as urinary incontinence or erectile dysfunction. The absence of irradiation also prevents damage to organs close to the prostate gland such as the rectum or bladder. All these assets make it possible to preserve the patient’s quality of life.

The millimetre precision of Focal One

Focal One gives Elsan’s medical teams the ability to act with great precision. Waves converge at high intensity and in a very targeted way on the tumour site only. This causes the heating and destruction of cancerous tissue. Focal One is able to take into account images taken before the operation, such as the prostate MRI. The map showing the location of tumour sites, resulting from the biopsies, can be imported and used to guide the procedure. When treatment takes place, a 3D ultrasound is also performed. All these images are merged to allow the surgeon to define the perimeter to be targeted by ultrasound. These are delivered with millimetre accuracy via a probe placed in the rectum. This procedure is performed under general or spinal anaesthesia (regional anaesthesia of the lower limbs and abdomen). The procedure lasts between 30 minutes and two hours and terminates with a contrast ultrasound to ensure that the treatment has been delivered correctly.