BK BLOG

There is a better chance of successful treatment of prostate cancer when it is detected early and confined to the prostate gland.¹ Increasingly, multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) is being recommended before biopsy as part of a prostate cancer pathway.² Compared with TRUS-biopsy, mpMRI has significantly better sensitivity and negative predictive value for clinically important prostate cancer.² If used as a triage test before first prostate biopsy, mpMRI could reduce unnecessary biopsies by a quarter; mpMRI could also reduce over-diagnosis of clinically insignificant prostate cancer and improve detection of clinically significant cancer.²

Recently, we spoke with Dr. Jos J. Immerzeel, the radiation oncologist at Andros Mannenkliniek (The Andros Men’s Health Institutes) in Amsterdam. Dr. Immerzeel uses bkFusion to plan and guide transperineal prostate biopsies using local anesthesia, which you can read about here.

For Dr. Immerzeel, an MR-ultrasound fusion biopsy using bkFusion takes approximately 20 minutes, and patients usually spend less than an hour at the clinic. One reason for the short procedure time is that the MRI contours have been done beforehand, so the patient spends very little time on the table.

Dr. Jos Immerzeel has performed over 1000 MR-ultrasound prostate biopsy procedures using bkFusion. He currently carries out bkFusion procedures at Andros Mannenkliniek in Amsterdam, and his preferred method is transperineal (TP) biopsies with local anesthesia.

Predictive Fusion^TM  is powered by MIMReslicer which reslices and reorients supine MRI images to LLD or Lithotomy position during the Radiology review thus addressing registration errors before the procedure.  Unlike rigid and elastic fusion, which attempt to correct errors after the ultrasound is acquired, Predictive Fusion removes errors before acquiring the ultrasound. How? Using a proprietary on-screen tool, the radiologist reslices and reorients the MRI images to the expected biopsy position, as a result, the registration process typically requires seconds. Predictive Fusion allows you to adjust and correct before taking a biopsy and was designed to fit your traditional biopsy workflow, requiring minimal extra steps and providing a fusion you can trust.

In this video, Prostate cancer survivor Allen Wynn describes how he feels that having a doctor who uses cutting edge technology made a difference to him when he was diagnosed with a prostate cancer that required treatment. PSA tests and Digital Rectal Exams are important tools for prostate screening but often raise as many questions as they answer. Systematic biopsies don’t always give enough information to be conclusive. Fusing real-time ultrasound images with pre-exam MRI data gives you better guidance to help accurately target lesions identified in the MRI images, potentially reducing the risk of missing high-grade tumors or under-staging tumors for active surveillance. Watch this video to learn more about the bkFusion system.  

Predictive Fusion™ is the new technology in bkFusion for prostate MRI Fusion biopsies.
BK Ultrasound has partnered with MIM Software to bring advanced fusion software to urologists. Predictive Fusion™ saves time and reduces your procedure steps by eliminating the need to draw ultrasound prostate contours. Watch this video for an introduction to Predictive Fusion™.

In this video, US army veteran Jim Brazell describes how bkFusion technology helped his physician manage his prostate cancer disease process. bkFusion is the seamless integration of the bk3000 and bk5000 ultrasound systems with the best visualization and guidance software available. Watch this video with Jim Brazell to learn more about bkFusion from a patient’s perspective.   

In this video, Dr. Sweazy of Carolina Urology Partners discusses the benefits of incorporating  bkFusion technology from BK Ultrasound into his urology practice. Because prostate cancer is the most common occurring malignancy among men in the United States and the number two cause of cancer deaths among men in the United States, Dr. Sweazy wants to diagnose his patients early on. He finds the real-time ultrasound imaging pared with the pre-exam MRI data helpful in improving his patients’ care. Watch this video with Dr. Sweazy to learn more about the bkFusion system.