Shortly before 10.30am last Saturday,, Jonathan Cawley lay down on an operating table in central London to begin treatment with HIFU.
Less than four hours later, he was sitting up in bed, drinking tea and contemplating getting up.
By the evening, 55-year-old Mr Cawley was walking out of hospital with his wife Helen and heading for home. He had nothing but praise for the technique.
"Unless I am missing a trick, I would have thought everybody ought to be having this if they are suitable," he said. " If you have surgery, you are severely incapacitated for six weeks."
He first realised he might have prostate cancer last year after a routine medical.
"I had no sign anything was wrong, but I hadn't had a check-up for 10 years. I'm not a regular medical check-up type," said Mr Cawley, who owns a waste management business.
The examination showed that, despite his apparent good health, his prostate specific antigen (PSA) level - and his risk of prostate cancer - was high. A biopsy confirmed he had cancer.
"It was strange because I felt absolutely A1 and had no symptoms, apart from needing to pee in the middle of the night sometimes. The cancer was localised and it needed attention."
After doctors explained the options - a radical prostatectomy was recommended, possibly with some radiotherapy - Mr Cawley was uneasy.
"I didn't particularly want invasive surgery and I didn't want the collateral damage - the risk of incontinence and erectile dysfunction. Because I'm 55, I simply wasn't comfortable with it."
He began a dietary regime of fresh fruit and vegetables, wholemeal food and reduced dairy produce. For a year, the cancer remained stable. Then, in the summer, he was put in contact with Mark Emberton, the surgeon leading the trial on HIFU.
"Although the treatment is fairly new, I was very comfortable with it," said Mr Cawley. "The more I looked at it, the more I thought it was what I wanted."
The procedure yesterday lasted almost three hours. Mr Cawley chose to be asleep while it was carried out.
Speaking only an hour after coming round at the Princess Grace Hospital, west London, he said: "At the moment, there is no pain. I've been told that I may feel a tingling and some discomfort when I pass water, and the catheter will be removed in 12 days.
"I am intending to walk out of the hospital later today. I understand the cancer has been completely destroyed."
