Bournemouth Hospital Charity’s March for Men event is returning to Bournemouth Seafront on 20 March and aims to raise thousands of pounds for a new piece of imaging equipment that will benefit men with prostate cancer at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital (RBH).
Money raised from the event will be used to fund men’s health projects at the hospital including the purchase of a new Olympus image management hub. This will be used alongside the hospital’s da Vinci Robot, used in complex major surgery to treat men with prostate cancer.
The new equipment costs around £12,000 and takes live images directly from the robot and records it in 3D. Consultants can then use this footage when analysing patient outcomes and can identify aspects of the technique which impact most directly on patient outcomes. The equipment will also benefit patients who undergo kidney and colorectal surgical procedures in the future.
Kevin Turner, Consultant Urological Surgeon, said: “The new hub will be a fantastic resource for the urology department and will enable surgeons to better look at patient outcomes. By reviewing the operation videos we can see what aspects of the surgical technique might be responsible for a particular outcome. This means we can modify and improve our technique going forward.
“This equipment will also enable us to share videos with surgeons who have been mentoring us in advanced robotic surgery and allow us to be “remotely” mentored. This has obvious time and money benefits as we will be able to be mentored at the hospital instead of having to go abroad.”
Over 200 patients have benefitted from the da Vinci Robot since it was purchased two years ago and this new imaging technology will make a big difference in how men are treated in the future.
March for Men encourages men, women and children to walk, run or march 1km, 5km, or 10km walk, along Bournemouth seafront and lower gardens. Hundreds of people took part last year helping to fund the template biopsy machine which has benefited over 100 men with prostate cancer since it was bought last year.
If you would like to register for the event, log on to www.bournemouthhospitalcharity.org. call 01202 704060, email charity@rbch.nhs.uk or visit the Bournemouth Hospital Charity office in the main atrium at RBH.
