Helical Tomotherapy for Cancer Patients

Tomotherapy is designed to avoid these problems.
The system incorporates a new IMRT image-guided dose optimization method, a refined and controlled fan beam multileaf collimator, a dose detection system, and a quality control dose verification package.

The developers call the new system a "radiography department in a machine.” By moving a patient slowly through a precisely controlled radiation beam, the exact amount and shape of the radiation beam is changed, monitored, and verified with a plan that was initially optimized by a doctor. The system allows for the use of previously scanned images from computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and positive emission tomography (PET) to target exact tumor and location for treatment. Helical tomotherapy was developed by researchers at the University of Wisconsin and is being marketed by TomoTherapy, Inc. (Middleton, WI, USA).