An expert in experimental medicine, Professor Rosie King, has said that with the emergence of high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU, technology, Nigeria is set to transform the fortunes of women’s reproductive health and allied issues.
King, who is the Managing Director, International Academics, Marketing, and Sales, Chongqing Haifu Medical Technology Co. Ltd., told Good Health Weekly that Nigeria can take the lead in transforming the landscape on the therapeutic side for women’s general healthcare and for cancer patients in Africa.
She spoke during a visit to the Nordica Fibroid Care Center in Lagos, which is the only HIFU center in Africa after South Africa and Egypt.
The HIFU is a novel, noninvasive treatment approach for intestinal fibroids and adenomyosis, a trans-cervical fibroid ablation technology combining intrauterine ultrasound guidance with the proven benefits of focused radiofrequency energy in a no-incision, uterus-preserving operation.
King, who was visibly impressed with the setup of the Nordica Fibroid Care Center, said, “I’m impressed with this center.” We have about many centers worldwide, but I think this is the first center actually to have minimally invasive endoscopy technology on the one hand and non-invasive technology on the other hand. This is significant because it is about ensuring that doctors are able to choose the best treatment method to benefit patients the most.
“We belong to the HIFU family, and we transferred the technology and the service to the local team, so what you see here is completely functional up to international standards.
Noting that technology is always just a tool, King noted that it has to be used with sensitivity.
“Telemedicine medicine is not about technology but about how we take care of patients in their hardest time, and this is what we embrace.
“The main objective is to work with Dr. Ajayi to discuss how we can bring this forward from one center to more centers and how to broaden the Nigerian market.
“This technology is completely digitized. Doctors no longer need the physical knife; what they use is a virtual knife with just a click of the mouse. So I think that Africa, by having this many of these patients, If we develop this technology here in Nigeria with the rest of Africa, we will have cutting-edge medical technology, and we can transform the landscape on the therapeutic side for women’s general healthcare and for cancer patients.
Also speaking during the visit, the Head of the Fibroid Care Center and the Medical Director, Nordica Fertility Center, Lagos, Dr. Abayomi Ajayi, noted that 355 patients had been successfully treated for fibroid at the center.
This emerging technology is very important for us in Africa because of the migration of our doctors abroad. We’ve done about 355 cases in two years, and this is one of the reasons we can continue to treat patients safely without utilizing too many doctors.
“For instance, we do not need anesthetics, and we have never transfused blood; all those advantages are just numerous, and I think this is just the right direction to go. There are advantages we have with this collaboration for training and capacity building, but we need more doctors to get on board. Ajayi said the idea is to act globally but think locally. We are going to continue this local training for our doctors so that we have many more doctors using this very important tool here.
