A new modality for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia

The potential application of coagulative heating as a new modality for transurethral treatment of prostate hyperplasia is examined theoretically and experimentally. A theoretical model is developed for predicting the tissue response and the extent of thermal injury under different heating modalities such as conductive heating and direct heating using electromagnetic radiation. The theoretical model suggests that laser heating of the prostate is superior to other modalities in producing large coagulated zones of injury. The preliminary animal study using Nd:YAG laser radiation to coagulate canine prostate supports our hypothesis. The animal study results shows that deep coagulation necrosis of the prostate can be achieved by optimizing the exposure parameters.