IMRT Combo for Cancer Treatment

The system has been cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The new system is called the TomoTherapy Hi-Art system. IMRT changes the size, shape, and intensity of the radiation beam to conform to the size, shape, and location of the patient's tumor, while the tomotherapy system uses the MLC to modulate the intensity of the radiation beam so that it precisely conforms to the shape of the tumor. The system is the product of TomoTherapy, Inc. (Middleton, WI, USA). According to the company, researchers at the University of Wisconsin (Madison, USA) developed the concept of helical tomotherapy while exploring ways to deliver IMRT.

The device looks like a computed tomography (CT) scan system in which a patient lies on a bench that moves through a rotating ring gantry. The gantry houses a linear accelerator, which delivers photon radiation in the shape of a fan beam as the ring is turning. With the couch moving at the same time the gantry is rotating, the radiation beam makes a spiral pattern around the patient. At the same time, the multileaf collimator constantly modulates the radiation beam as it leaves the accelerator.

"The Hi-Art system combines treatment planning, positioning of images, and helical delivery into one system,” said Dr. Thomas Rockwell Mackie, one of the founders of TomoTherapy.




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