Prostate Project funds ultrasound machine for Stokes Urology Centre

A new £100,000 diagnostic imaging device to detect prostate cancer has arrived at The Stokes Centre for Urology in Guildford, thanks to local charity The Prostate Project.

The ultrasound machine, made by Hitachi, fuses images from an MRI scan with the live ultrasound image, allowing doctors to detect prostate cancer more accurately. There are only four machines of this type currently in use by NHS trusts across England.

The machine has been provided as part of the charity's 'Fabulous Fit Out' appeal to buy equipment for The Stokes Centre for Urology, which opened at the Royal Surrey County Hospital last year. The build was funded by a £3million donation from the charity, matched by £3million from Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust.

It was officially unveiled at the centre this morning (Wednesday) via Zoom.

Sue Sjuve, Chair of the Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust, Prostate Project Chairman Alf Turner and Professor Stephen Langley, Director of Cancer Services at Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust, were present at the launch. Dr Langley gave a demonstration of the machine in action, and said cancer detection rates had gone up from 70% to 80 or 90% since he started using it a fortnight ago. Dr Langley said: "The best way to detect prostate cancer in our patients is by carrying out an MRI to see if there are any suspicious areas which might represent cancer. However, we use ultrasound when we take biopsies from the prostate to verify whether cancer is present. "Unfortunately, abnormalities are often invisible using this technique and it can be difficult to accurately target the area of suspicion within the gland. "This new machine will enable us to fuse together the MRI and ultrasound images in real-time. This is invaluable when we are taking the biopsies and enables us to detect prostate cancer much more accurately. It will also reduce the need to unnecessarily biopsy parts of the gland that are very unlikely to contain cancer so is less invasive for patients. He added: "I want to say thank you to the Prostate Project for funding and providing this state-of-the-art machine for us. We're extremely grateful to the Prostate Project for this magnificent piece of equipment." Sue Sjueve said: "I would like to thank The Prostate Project for the donation of this amazing new machine. We are very proud that The Stokes Centre is a part of Royal Surrey's world-class cancer services, with the state-of-the-art equipment and infrastructure to give men the best chance of beating prostate cancer." And she paid tribute to the Prostate Project, pointing out that: "We would not be standing in this building if it were not for the Prostate Project. They have raised more than £3million, and continue to raise funds to provide us with this kind of amazing equipment." The Prostate Project raised the money for the machine through a gala evening organised by the PGA European, and other fundraising activities. Charity chairman Alf Turner said: "We are delighted to purchase the ultrasound due to the generous donations of our supporters of our 'Fabulous Fit Out' appeal, brainchild of our president, Tim Sharp. "This demonstrates how the NHS and charities can combine to create a sector-leading facility for treating prostate cancer patients." He added: "It excites me a great deal to hand over this machine. I want to say thank you to all the thousands of people out there who have donated to this building." And he said the charity is now launching a £150,000 campaign to kit out a laboratory at the hospital, which has got off to "an outstanding start", with one anonymous donor giving £20,000 to kickstart the fund.