Researchers at Loyola University Medical Center have developed a technology that combines MRI and ultrasound for prostate cancer patients.
The combination imaging system could result in fewer biopsies and better treatment decisions for prostate cancer patients, according to the university.
With the UroNav technology, a patient is scanned with MRI before undergoing a biopsy, and during the biopsy the MR and ultrasound images are fused. UroNav then employs GPS-type technology to guide the biopsy needle to the lesions detected by MRI, leading to fewer needle biopsies.
Loyola prostate cancer surgeon Dr. Gopal Gupta said the new technology could help prevent physicians from missing hard-to-find and often-aggressive prostate cancers, providing greater certainty regarding the extent and aggressiveness of the disease.
