St. Luke’s Medical Center-Global City offers the country’s first and only High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) System

St. Luke's Medical Center lives up to its reputation of pioneering healthcare services with state-of-the-art facilities that are first-of-its-kind in the Philippines. Using advanced medical technology, St. Luke's-Global City opens the country's first and only facility specializing in High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU). The unit performs a non-surgical treatment modality. It uses an extracorporeal focused ultrasound beam to generate heat, destroying solid tumors—whether malignant or benign.

"HIFU technology will revolutionize the treatment of our patients with uterine myoma, adenomyosis and liver tumors. It is a better alternative for patients who do not want surgery and those who are not in good physical condition for conventional surgical treatment." Dr. Ramon De Vera, Head of the HIFU Unit.

This procedure offers the following advantages: 

• A non-surgical procedure for gynecological and hepatic masses
• Prevents complications related to surgical procedures
• No surgical incision nor scarring
• No blood loss
• No damage to the surrounding normal tissues
• Uses real-time ultrasound for a safe and precise ablation of uterine and hepatic tumors
• Usually, a one-time treatment
• Frequently an outpatient procedure for uterine myomas and adenomyosis
• Requires only light sedation and analgesia for uterine myomas and adenomyosis
• For infertility patients, they can try to get pregnant after 3 months.

"Even though it's a new technology here in the Philippines, I trusted the expertise of St. Luke's. Also, the team made me feel comfortable during the treatment, and they told me everything I needed to know," Charisse Agbayani, the first ever HIFU patient in the Philippines.

Before the procedure, a comprehensive examination is performed on patients to determine their eligibility. The patients are provided with pre-, intra-, and post-procedural discussions with the HIFU specialists.

"The procedure is relatively safe. Side effects like skin burn, vaginal bleeding, urinary retention, and intestinal and nerve injuries can be prevented by a thorough screening that will be done by our experts in ultrasound and MRI/CT imaging, followed by positioning and simulation of the procedure," Dr. Sandee Go, Assistant Head of the HIFU Unit.

With this procedure, patients can recover quickly and may return to normal activities after 3 to 4 days of rest, compared to the downtime one may experience from traditional surgery (which may take 30 to 60 days). Moreover, HIFU entails minimal discomfort, allowing the patient to communicate during the procedure.

In photo St. Luke’s HIFU Unit Team: Dr. Sandee Go, Asst. Head of St. Luke’s HIFU Unit (seated); Dr. Ramon De Vera, Head of St. Luke’s HIFU Unit; & Dr. Leovegildo Comia Jr., St. Luke’s OB-GYN Sonologist

The unit comprises a team of experts—who received extensive HIFU training from trainers accredited by the International Society of Minimally Invasive and Virtual Surgery (ISMIVS).

In photo from left to right : Dr. Xia Ning, HIFU specialist (Chongqing Haifu Hospital, China); Dr. Leovegildo Comia Jr.; Dr. Sandee Go; Dr. Melissa Young; Dr. Dennis P. Serrano (Executive Vice President for St. Luke’s One Healthcare System); and Dr. Ramon De Vera

To know more about this new service of St. Luke’s Medical Center-Global City, please call St. Luke's Product Information Hub at 0919-057-7744, 0998-534-2768, 0928-520-0239, 0947-993-0471 (call), 0919-160-7744 (text), or email [email protected].