As a world leader in the advancement of the detection and treatment of prostate cancer, the Smilow Comprehensive Prostate Cancer Center (www.smilowprostatecancercenter.com) at NYU Langone Medical Center is the first medical facility in the Northeast to install ei-Nav|Artemis™, an innovative image guidance and navigation system for prostate biopsy that is manufactured by Eigen.
Using proprietary next-generation imaging technology, Artemis provides solutions not available today by enhancing urologists' existing ultrasound machines, the vast majority of which are only 2D. Artemis lets urologists virtually see inside the prostate in 3D while providing real-time needle navigation and biopsy needle mapping. It also generates a 3D image of the biopsy coordinates for future reference.
"We are very excited about Artemis," says Herbert Lepor, MD, Director of the Smilow Comprehensive Prostate Cancer Center. "No major advances have been made in the TRUS/biopsy technique over the past 20 years, except for use of local anesthesia and a 12-core approach. This new device helps the Smilow Center provide the most sophisticated level of prostate diagnosis possible and assists our physicians in providing even better prostate cancer treatment and management, especially for men electing active surveillance and focal therapy."
Artemis lets doctors select a tissue site within the boundary of the prostate with near-pinpoint accuracy and then provides needle navigation to the precise location for biopsy. Artemis' patented registration technology records this data in 3D, which allows doctors to revisit or avoid the exact same area during repeat procedures. Artemis provides doctors with data they can analyze to determine changes in the prostate gland and manage treatment accordingly.
"With an estimated 1.5 million biopsies performed each year, conventional biopsy can be blind to cancer, resulting in 20 to 30 percent of cancers being missed, and detected cancer not always being clinically relevant," says Samir Taneja, MD, Associate Professor of Urologic Oncology and Director of Urologic Oncology at the NYU Langone Medical Center.
This breakthrough imaging and mapping is a major improvement over existing 2D ultrasound routinely used for prostate cancer biopsies, where doctors blindly biopsy cells and roughly estimate locations during repeat procedures. Without being able to clearly see the prostate in real-time, physicians have had no choice but to gather less-than-precise data to determine treatment.
"The benefits of imaging advancements improve our ability to accurately guide tissue sampling, improve diagnosis and manage the disease progression. With Artemis we are able to more precisely treat patients based on what stage and grade of prostate cancer they have, not what we think they have. It helps us provide a smart biopsy," says Stephen Scionti, MD, Director of Prostate Cancer Ablation Surgery at the New York University School of Medicine and Langone Medical Center.
"We are delighted with the feedback we are getting from such world-renowned physicians as Drs. Lepor, Taneja and Scionti. Artemis is changing the way top prostate centers, such as the Smilow Center at NYU, think about prostate biopsies. Artemis gives doctors the first ever true biopsy management platform by helping them to visualize, plan, navigate, track, record and manage prostate biopsy results for their patients," says Brian Burr, Eigen CEO. "We are convinced that this new smart prostate biopsy is on the right track and that Artemis will play a significant role in reshaping the future of prostate biopsies and, potentially, the future of prostate cancer treatment as well."
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