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