AI-Powered Water Jet Surgery: Men Bounce Back with New Prostate Treatment!

Cheltenham General Hospital has become a leading center for a new kind of prostate surgery that uses artificial intelligence and a robotic water jet. This treatment, called Aquablation, is helping men with enlarged prostates regain their quality of life. The procedure is attracting patients from all over the South West and even further, as it offers a faster recovery and fewer side effects compared to traditional surgery. The Aquablation system uses a high-pressure water jet to remove the extra prostate tissue that causes problems for many men over 50. Surgeons use ultrasound imaging to map out the prostate and then program the robot to target the right areas. An AI system, trained on more than 100,000 previous surgeries, suggests the best plan, but the surgeon always makes the final decision.

One patient, Andy Ocock, had to wear a catheter for almost a year because his enlarged prostate made it hard for him to control his bladder. He said that after the Aquablation surgery, his life changed completely. He could go back to running and cycling, activities he loved but had to stop because of his condition. The new procedure is very precise, using a water jet at up to 8,000 psi, but it is controlled so carefully that it only removes the tissue that needs to go. This is different from the older method, called TURP, which uses heat or cutting tools and can take longer to recover from.

Another patient, Ian Kemp, had suffered from urinary infections for about 20 years because of his enlarged prostate. After his Aquablation surgery, he was able to go home the next day and felt better much faster than he expected. The doctors say that Aquablation has a very low risk of causing problems like erectile dysfunction or incontinence, which are more common with older types of surgery. In fact, up to 90 percent of men keep their sexual function, and very few have issues with leaking urine. The hospital has already done hundreds of these operations, and the results have been so good that more and more men are choosing this treatment. The doctors hope that as more surgeons learn how to use Aquablation, even more patients will be able to benefit from this advanced technology.