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Dr. Ramesh Ramayya, President of Urology and Nephrology Services at thehospital said, "The introduction of the Sonablate(R)500 and the HIFUtechnology for the treatment of prostate cancer marks a major milestone in thepractice of urology in the Indian sub-continent."
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The Sonablate(R) HIFU will be launched in India officially at aninauguration event held on December 3, 2008 at the Taj Krishna by the ChiefMinister Dr. Y.S. Rajashekar Reddy. Additionally, Dr. Madhav Kamat of JaslokHospital in Mumbai and Dr. A. Ranganadha Rao, past president of the UrologicalSociety of India will be guests of honor at the inauguration. Dr D.Ramanaidu, film producer, will launch the Prostate Cancer Awareness Program onthe same day. The following day, the first HIFU treatments in India will beperformed by Dr. Ramayya. USHIFU medical director, Dr. George Suarez willobserve the procedure remotely through a virtual private network (VPN) and beable to provide commentary.
"As the population is aging with a healthy lifestyle it is imperative thatpatients with prostate cancer are offered a viable alternative to the existingtherapy options of surgery and radiotherapy. HIFU technology is minimallyinvasive, far safer than and as effective as existing alternatives. I am sureSonablate(R) HIFU and India HIFU Centers will be a resounding success inIndia," continued Dr. Ramayya.
"I have seen HIFU in action and I believe it is a good decision. There aremany patients I feel who will benefit with HIFU in India, especially thosethat do not like surgery. There are also many patients who have had radicalprostatectomy or radiotherapy in India; surely there must be some failures,HIFU will be useful in this group too," said Dr. Ganesh Gopalakrishnan,Professor of Urology in CMC, Vellore and President Elect Urological Society ofIndia.
Steve Puckett, Jr., Chief Executive Officer, USHIFU said, "We areextremely enthusiastic about the growth opportunity in the Indian market.Using our unique hybrid medical device-service model we will be able toquickly enter all the major Indian healthcare markets without having to relyon sometimes slow hospital capital spending decisions. We are proud to beable to expeditiously arm Indian physicians with an alternative modality tocombat prostate cancer and the significant side effects associate withtraditional treatments."
India HIFU is affiliated with USHIFU and International HIFU, the entitythrough which USHIFU conducts its international business operations and makesthe HIFU technologies available to patients at centers outside the UnitedStates. India HIFU is the exclusive distributor of the Sonablate(R) system inIndia, and is responsible for marketing and developing Sonablate(R) HIFUCenters throughout the country.
SOURCE USHIFU
