Profound Medical (NASDAQ: PROF; TSX: PRN) has seen the first MRI-guided prostate cancer treatment performed using its TULSA-PRO system at the Mātai Medical Research Institute in Gisborne, New Zealand, following its distribution and supply agreement with closely held Getz Healthcare covering that country and Australia.
In local news coverage, the Mātai Medical Research Institute lead clinician Daniel Cornfeld said the treatment helps provide patients additional options, particularly those seeking alternatives to surgery and radiation.
Mr. Cornfeld commented, “The procedure is really designed for people who are really averse to having surgery, don’t want to have radiation and want to keep their continence and potency.”
“There’s a wider range of treatments that people feel more comfortable going into it. That ‘OK, if it’s positive and I have prostate cancer,’ I don’t have to just have radiotherapy or surgery; there’s a whole list of things I can have and I hope that this procedure becomes a mainstay of one of those options,” he added.
Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in New Zealand, with more than 4,000 men diagnosed every year.
The TULSA Procedure, performed using Profound’s TULSA-PRO system, is a significant advancement in prostate care. Instead of surgery or radiation, treatment is performed inside an MRI suite using supervised robotic autonomy and directional ultrasound to precisely ablate prostate tissue while protecting surrounding structures. TULSA-PRO is the only AI-powered and MR-guided robotic system for incisionless prostate therapy, enabling real-time MRI thermography and autonomous temperature control. This allows physicians to see, monitor and adjust treatment throughout the procedure—delivering personalized therapy with exceptional precision.
