Robotic Couch Provides Extra Degree of Precision for Patients Undergoing Radiation Therapy for Cancer

NEW YORK, April 25, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Accuracy in radiation therapy demands careful targeting and patient positioning – precision measured in millimeters. The Farber Center for Radiation Oncology, the first and only freestanding cancer center of its kind in Manhattan, is among the first treatment centers to adopt Elekta's HexaPOD™ evo RT system, a unique fully robotic patient positioning system that enables clinicians to fine-tune the patient's treatment position not only in three dimensions (x, y and z), but also pitch, roll and yaw. These six independent degrees of freedom enable doctors to easily reposition patients, which decreases treatment time and achieves maximum accuracy.

"The HexaPOD system is just one more smart way for us to provide the most accurate – and therefore, least invasive – radiation treatment possible," says Dr. Leonard Farber, Radiation Oncologist and founder of the Farber Center, which has been using the new HexaPOD system in patient treatments.

"The imaging technology on our Elekta Infinity™ treatment system allows us to detect any organ movement before therapy with the patient in the treatment position. Then, HexaPOD helps us make extra, minute position changes to obtain the most precise treatment possible – zeroing in on the target, while also avoiding radiation exposure to normal healthy tissue to the greatest extent possible."

source: PR Newswire

Radiation at Time of Lumpectomy May Offer Faster, More Precise Treatment for Breast Cancer Patients

CHICAGO, April 12, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Northwestern Medicine physicians are currently utilizing a new treatment option for breast cancer that allows women to receive a full dose of radiation therapy during breast conserving surgery. Traditionally, women who opt to have a lumpectomy must first have surgery then undergo approximately six weeks of radiation. This schedule can be challenging for women who have busy schedules or do not have access to a center offering radiation therapy. In some cases, the demanding schedule causes women to not comply with the recommended course of treatment, increasing their risk for cancer recurrence. Intraoperative radiation therapy combines lumpectomy and the full course of radiation during a two and half hour operation.

"With this technique, the radiation oncologist will be in the operating room administering radiation to the tumor bed immediately following the surgeon's removal of the tumor," said William Small, Jr., MD, vice chairman radiation oncology at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and professor of radiation oncology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. "Instead of waiting a month to start the radiation therapy, it will take place immediately. A patient will wake up from surgery and have received the full amount of radiation therapy that is typically administered over six weeks."

Currently, a breast cancer patient first sees a surgeon to remove the tumor and then is referred to a radiation oncologist for follow up radiotherapy. Intraoperative radiation therapy allows physicians to deliver radiotherapy at the time of surgery directly to the area where the cancer was removed. Using a system called IntraBeam®, the radiation oncologist is now able to be in the operating room with the surgical oncologist, delivering the entire dose of radiation during surgery.

source: PR Newsire

Elekta Software Making Strong Inroads in Clinics Providing Proton Therapy for Patients with Cancer

VILLIGEN, Switzerland, March 29, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) in Switzerland and Elekta are collaborating to further develop treatment planning and oncology information systems (OIS) for proton therapy, a form of external beam radiation that uses protons instead of X-rays or electrons to treat certain types of cancer and other diseases.

PSI integrated Elekta's XiO® treatment planning system and MOSAIQ® OIS into its Centre for Proton Therapy to manage the flow of information and image data between treatment delivery, treatment planning, treatment simulation and the patient's electronic medical record. In clinical use for nearly a decade, XiO is in use at more proton and carbon ion facilities than any commercial vendor with a similar product. Elekta recently received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for XiO to plan spot scanning, a proton therapy delivery method that involves constructing a highly conformal placement of dose to the tumor by using thousands of small individual beamlets instead of a single large beam.

"Through XiO, Elekta provides a combination of advanced tools for scanned proton beam therapy. Elekta also provides a clear road map to further develop intensity modulated, image guided and adaptive proton therapy," says Antony Lomax, Ph.D., Professor and Head of Medical Physics at the Center for Proton Therapy at PSI. "A deciding factor in entering into this relationship was Elekta's willingness to leverage the significant experience of our team to increase the capabilities of XiO proton planning."

source: Elekta