Health AvendaMeditech Inc. based in Santa Monica, California developed the FocalPoint Resection System, an artificial intelligence-assisted prostate cancer treatment. The system is designed to provide topical treatment for prostate cancer and its AI system provides clinicians with a map of a patient’s cancer, along with treatment simulations to help them choose the best course of action.
The goal of this regimen is to effectively treat the tumor, while preserving as much healthy tissue as possible, thereby increasing the patient’s chances of fully retaining urinary and sexual function. The ablation technology is laser-based, and the system is designed for use with only a local anesthetic and as an outpatient procedure in a doctor’s office.
medgadget Talk to Shyam NatarajanCEO of Avenda Health in June 2021. Now, we’re tuning in with the company about the latest developments and speaking with Brittany Berry-Pusey, co-founder and COO.
Conn Hastings, Medgadget: Please give us a basic overview of current approaches to prostate cancer treatment, and their shortcomings.
Brittany Berry Posey, Avenda Health: The current standard of care for prostate cancer treatment is a one-size-fits-all approach, which can include invasive surgery, radiation, or active monitoring (ie, biopsies/annual monitoring). Providers usually treat prostate cancer like whole gland disease, and these whole gland treatments greatly affect the urethra and the nerves around the prostate that are essential for sexual and urinary function. This often discourages patients from seeking the necessary treatment for the disease.
Medgadget: Why has there been limited technological development in this field of disease over the past 40 years?
Brittany Berry Posey: Prostate cancer is a slow-growing disease which makes clinical trial design of new techniques for this disease challenging. Over the past few years, the Food and Drug Administration and the American Urological Association (AUA) have held several workshops to identify new trial designs and experimental endpoints that can be used to encourage the technological development of prostate cancer. New guidelines from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and (AUA) will help spur new developments in an area that has continued to struggle with high disease rates and low technical progress.
Medgadget: How did the idea for the system come about? Please give us a quick overview of how it works.
Brittany Berry Posey: Avenda Health’s technology is based on more than a decade of research from the UCLA laboratories of co-founders Dr. Natarajan and Dr. Marks. They hypothesized that if we could locate the cancer, we could treat only the precancerous lesions, leaving healthy tissue intact and maintaining quality of life.
Avenda Health’s two main products are iQuest and FocalPoint. iQuest was created to help locate cancer in an individual’s prostate. It is an AI-based software system that uses a patient’s clinical data to map disease prevalence and simulate treatment options. Prostate cancer remains a difficult disease to portray. With artificial intelligence, we have a much better understanding of where cancer is than ever before. FocalPoint is a laser-based ablation system. May be used in an office environment with local anaesthesia only. With FocalPoint powered by iQuest, our goal is to provide an anti-cancer treatment option that preserves quality of life.
Medgadget: How things have progressed since The last time we spoke To Avenda Health in terms of regulatory path and clinical trials?
Brittany Berry Posey: We recently received IDE approval for a randomized control trial where we will show that FocalPoint powered by iQuest is a superior form of treatment compared to standard of care. We are very excited to begin this experiment and the data it will produce.
Medgadget: Please give us an overview of iQuest, the artificial intelligence software for patient management that accompanies the system.
Brittany Berry Posey: When a person is first diagnosed with prostate cancer, the extent and location of the disease in the prostate is not yet known. iQuest provides a Cancer Prospect Map that displays the probability of developing cancer within each region of the prostate. This information is used to understand the extent of the disease and to determine the margin of cancer to target. iQuest can then simulate where to place tools, such as FocalPoint, to completely excise the tumor.
Medgadget: Assuming the technology is approved and it enters the market, how do you envision that this will change how prostate cancer patients receive treatment?
Brittany Berry Posey: Our mission is to personalize prostate cancer care for the patient and their specific condition. By utilizing AI maps and focus therapy, it will improve precise targeting and overall control of tumor removal—ultimately, giving prostate cancer patients a better quality of life and a clearer path to cancer-free.
end to end: Avenda Health home page…
recovery: Local treatment for prostate cancer: an interview with Shyam Natarajan, CEO of Avenda Health
