Surgeons say the procedure, which treats benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), a condition affecting more than four million men over 50 in England, has transformed care for many patients.
For consultant urologist, Jeremy Nettleton, the equipment has been game-changing, allowing him to treat more patients in a day then ever before.
Using ultrasound imaging, surgeons map the enlarged prostate before programming where the water jet should remove tissue.
An AI system trained on more than 100,000 previous procedures suggests a treatment plan, although the surgeon makes the final decision.
“Essentially it’s using a high speed pressure washer under ultrasound imaging to very accurately wash out some of the prostate tissue,” he said.
“It’s pretty fierce, it’s up to 8,000 psi (pounds per square inch), but it’s really controlled so it’s accurate within a millimetre and I can see what it’s doing on the ultrasound.
“So it’s not like unleashing a pressure washer on a patio and not knowing what it’s going to do, it’s not like that at all. It’s very controlled and it’s very precise.”
Traditional surgery, known as Transurethral Resection of the Prostate (TURP), removes tissue using heat or cutting tools and can involve longer recovery times.