Us -Too! Brampton General Meeting 
Tuesday, October 11, 2005

"High Intensity Focused Ultrasound"
by
Dr. William L. Orovan

Over 59 members, spouses and guests attended this event to learn about a new and
exciting treatment - High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU)- by Dr. Orovan.

We were pleased to have Mrs. Janice Orovan as a guest at this event - Janice is the
Director of Clinical Programs at the Don Mills Surgical Unit.

The interesting fact Dr. Orovan explained about HIFU is that it could be applicable to
suitable candidates as a primary curative treatment but could also be used as a salvage
treatment in case of disease recurrence following failure of treatment such as Radiation.

Using a power point presentation with graphics, color images and easily understood
explanations Dr. Orovan transported the audience into the front yard of medical high tech.

He showed how the procedure worked, who was a candidate for it and some of the
possible side effects. HIFU was non-invasive and relied on acoustics, a relatively gentler form
of energy. Central to the procedure was a trans-rectal probe generating high intensity ultrasound
pulses. Individually these waves passed through the surrounding tissue harmlessly but converged
at a focal point in the prostate raising the temperature to about 85 degree Celsius, thus
destroying the cells.

The HIFU equipment was highly precise and deployed sophisticated computer hardware and
software image guidance technology to pinpoint and move the focal point selectively inside the
prostate. The equipment was so sensitive, explained Dr. Orovan, that it would shut down if there was
the slightest unwanted movement of the prostate to prevent damaging any surrounding healthy tissue.

HIFU is relatively new in Canada but it appears to have had good success in Europe, its origins.
Having explained the workings of HIFU, Dr. Orovan went on to presenting some of the statistical
data comparing HIFU with other mainstream treatments. The presented data showed HIFU
outcomes compared favorably and improved in many areas. Further studies and data over time
of course will further the learning curve.

The talk concluded with an interesting Q & A session with active member participation.
In Dr. Orovan's opinion there was increasing medical interest in application of this type of
energy and he felt the future way forward lay in image guided ablation for other organs as well.
As to the question of how any one could get on the HIFU program, a matter that may be of
interest to others, he advised they should get in touch with :

Janice Orovan
Director, Clinical Programs
Don Mills Surgical Unit
20 Wynford Drive, Suite 208
Don Mills, Ontario
M3C 1J4
416-441-2111 extension 245
email: jorovan@dmsu.com

Members may also visit the Website: http://www.hifu.ca
This Website provides a qualifying questionnaire and means of establishing contact.

Being a relatively new treatment in Canada, Dr. Orovan admitted that in the near term one could not turn
to provincial schemes for funding, however some medical components of the cost (but not the overheads)
might possibly be covered by private insurance. At present one could expect to get on the program in
about 6 weeks from initial contact, provided all other ground work was in order.

Dr. Orovan and Janice also brought along HIFU information handouts, copies of a recent newspaper
article and a one page summary of a 4 year study on HIFU patients for distribution to our members.

AUDIO RECORDING & SLIDES

With Dr. Orovan's permission we are pleased to offer both the Audio recording as well as
a secure Acrobat (.pdf) file of the presentation slides.
Please follow the links below or copy and paste the URL provided.

[Our audio use RealAudio format, so if you don't already have
it you will need to install the current RealAudio player.
To download a free player, go to the Real Networks Website]

Track 01: 'HIFU - Talk'
[URL: http://www.ustoo-brampton.com/Audiostreams/Orovan/hifutalk.rm]
[5,293 Kbytes, Talk time: 00:43:06]
Down load times: 
Approx.: 30 Mins. (56KBaud)
Approx.: 6 Mins.  (384KBaud)

Track 02: 'HIFU - Q & A'
[URL: http://www.ustoo-brampton.com/Audiostreams/Orovan/hifuqa.rm]
[1,351 Kbytes, Talk time: 00:10:59]
Down load times: 
Approx.: 8 Mins. (56KBaud)
Approx.: 2 Min.  (384KBaud)

Audio CDs Library Call Number: AB 616.99463-Oro
Availability: Late November 2005

SLIDES: 'HIFU- Slides'
[URL: http://www.ustoo-brampton.com/hifuslides.pdf]
{secure Acrobat File (.pdf) Pages 41, Size 1,114 Kbytes}

Announcements were also made at this event regarding
Bramalea Live Theater's upcoming performance
in support of Us Too! Brampton.
Click here for details

Thanks to all members and a special note of thanks to
Dr. Orovan for a highly informative evening.