Albany Medical Center First in the Region to Offer Groundbreaking Aquablation Therapy for Enlarged Prostate
Minimally invasive treatment for BPH uses AI-powered robotic system
Albany Medical Center is the first hospital in the greater Capital Region to offer Aquablation therapy, a groundbreaking treatment for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). The first procedures were performed at the hospital in late March.
BPH, also known as enlarged prostate, is a common, noncancerous, age-related condition that affects approximately fifty percent of men between the ages of 51 and 60, sixty percent of men between the ages of 61 and 70, and more than eighty percent of men over 70 years old.
It occurs when the prostate gland enlarges and compresses the urethra, making it difficult to urinate and fully empty the bladder. Symptoms include the need to urinate immediately or urgently, urinating more often than normal, and urinating frequently at night.
“Aquablation therapy offers all the benefits of other surgical treatments for BPH, while preserving continence and sexual function,” said Ronald P. Kaufman, Jr., MD, professor in the Department of Urology at Albany Medical College, who is leading the Aquablation program at Albany Medical Center. “It may soon become the gold standard surgical procedure for relieving BPH symptoms and improving quality of life.”
Advanced AI-Powered Robotic Technology
When medication is not effective at controlling symptoms, the most common surgical treatment for BPH is TURP (transurethral resection of the prostate). While this traditional surgery helps relieve symptoms, sexual function is often impacted and continence may also be impacted.
Aquablation therapy, on the other hand, has been clinically proven to provide significant, durable BPH symptom relief while preserving sexual function and continence across prostates of all shapes and sizes.
With the HYDROS Robotic System platform, artificial intelligence aids surgeons in creating a treatment plan customized for each patient’s prostate. Real-time, ultrasound-guided, robotic-assisted heat-free waterjet technology is then used for the Aquablation procedure.
“In this minimally invasive endoscopic procedure, the prostate tissue is removed with the power of high-pressured heat-free water, in a very precise way every time,” explained Dr. Kaufman.
The AI-powered platform allows surgeons to target problematic tissue to remove while critical anatomy is safeguarded.
“As the region’s only academic medical center, Albany Medical Center is the leader in bringing state-of-the-art technologies and innovative new procedures to the Capital Region,” said Jason Mouzakes, MD, president and CEO of Albany Medical Center Hospital. “Aquablation therapy is just the latest example in a long list of advances led by Albany Med that highlights our commitment to be the first choice for patient experience, quality, and clinical excellence.”
Early Access to Leading-Edge Technologies Through Clinical Trials
Dr. Kaufman has been involved with Aquablation therapy for more than a decade. Under his leadership, Albany Medical Center was one of 17 sites in the U.S., United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand that participated in a double-blind, randomized, controlled trial between October 2015 and December 2016 to study Aquablation therapy compared to the TURP procedure.
Results from that trial, and a subsequent, multi-center clinical trial in 2017 focused on larger prostates that also included Albany Medical Center, led to FDA approval for the Aquablation system in 2017. The next-generation, AI-powered HYDROS Robotic System for Aquablation therapy was approved by the FDA in August 2024.
“We followed our patients for five years after their Aquablation procedures during the clinical trials, and they’ve all been very happy with their outcomes, without a need for additional surgical treatment or medication,” said Dr. Kaufman. “We’re excited to now offer this procedure to many more men.”