Male patient

Wirral Teaching Hospital first in UK to use new prostate cancer tech

Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS FT (WUTH) is the first trust in the UK to use an innovative system to aid the diagnosis for patients with potential prostate cancer.

The state-of-the-art ultrasound system is more likely to give a decisive result from the patient’s initial biopsy procedure.

This helps reduce the time taken to investigate the biopsy, which prevents patients from having to go through many further invasive procedures to reach a diagnosis.

This is because the new system provides high resolution, real-time imaging that enables more accurate targeting for biopsy of suspect areas of tissue within the prostate gland.

Nigel Parr

Caption: Nigel Parr, Consultant Urologist at Wirral University Teaching Hospital, with the ExactVu machine.

Nigel Parr, Consultant Urologist at WUTH, said: “We are pleased to be the first hospital in the UK to have the ExactVu imaging system which aids in the diagnosis of prostate cancer.

“With 300 times greater resolution than the current generation of scanners, we can now precisely target small areas of tissue, so only 3 or 4 core samples are needed to identify whether the patient has a tumour and to determine if it is relatively slow growing or a more aggressive type.

“Without this technology, around 1 in 5 biopsies need repeating to confirm the correct diagnosis.

“Having greater accuracy in taking samples and needing fewer repeats means that patients can be diagnosed more quickly and managed appropriately at an earlier stage, which should mean a better outcome for them.”

"The earlier a diagnosis of significant cancer can be made the far better this is for our patients."

The new system uses an MRI image of the patient's prostate which shows the abnormal areas of tissue, and this is combined with the live ultrasound image, enabling the operator to precisely focus and take the samples needed for examination.

Without the accuracy provided by this system, up to 25% of biopsies can also potentially miss suspicious areas.

Dr Nikki Stevenson, Medical Director and Deputy Chief Executive at WUTH, added: “The earlier a diagnosis of significant cancer can be made the far better this is for our patients.

“It is brilliant that we are using the latest technology so we can improve care for our patients and offer them a far better experience.”

The new system was funded by the Merseyside & West Cheshire Prostate Appeal.

The appeal to support minimally invasive treatments for prostate cancer, was set up by Mr Parr 14 years ago.

Jan/Feb

NHE January/February 2024

Boosting NHS productivity demands a healthy dose of realism

Dive into our latest edition for January/February!

Videos...

View all videos
Online Conference

Presenting

2024 Online Conferences

In partnership with our community of health sector leaders responsible for delivering the UK's health strategy across the NHS and the wider health sector, we’ve devised a collaborative calendar of conferences and events for industry leaders to listen, learn and collaborate through engaging and immersive conversation. 

All our conferences are CPD accredited, which means you can gain points to advance your career by attending our online conferences. Also, the contents are available on demand so you can re-watch at your convenience.

National Health Executive Podcast

Ep 41. The truth about drones in the NHS

In episode 41 of the National Health Executive podcast, we were joined by Dr Angela Smith, research fellow at Bournemouth University, and Andy Oakey, research fellow at the University of Southampton, to discuss the viability of drones within the NHS transport system.

More articles...

View all