There are many ways to deliver and target radiation into the body. As with other modalities, radiation delivery techniques give the physician more choices as to how best to treat and target your cancer. Depending on the type of cancer and stage, one or more methods may be used to maximize tumor reduction and minimize damage to normal healthy tissues.
3D Conformal Radiation:
3D conformal radiation is a radiation therapy technique that sculpts radiation beams to the shape of a tumor. This is ideal for tumors that have irregular shapes or that lay close to healthy tissues and organs. Using this radiation technology, we’re first able to view a tumor in three dimensions with the help of image guidance. Based on these images, we then deliver radiation beams from several directions to the tumor. Matching the radiation dose to the exact dimensions of the tumor allows us to deliver a higher dose, while limiting radiation exposure to surrounding healthy tissues.
Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT):
Intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) is a state-of-the-art radiation delivery system. IMRT treats difficult-to-reach tumors in the prostate with greater precision than conventional radiation. As a result, Provision Radiation Oncologists are able to use higher radiation doses and minimize damage to the surrounding healthy tissue.
There are several ways IMRT differs from conventional radiation therapy:
- Employs a powerful, advanced software to plan a precise dose of radiation, based on tumor size, shape and location.
- Delivers prostate cancer radiation in sculpted doses that match the exact 3D geometrical shape of the tumor, including concave and complex shapes.
- Adjusts the intensity of radiation beams across the treatment area as needed with laser accuracy.
Because of its greater degree of accuracy, IMRT may be a treatment option if you have reached the maximum allowable dose of prostate cancer radiation therapy and have a recurrent tumor in the treated area.
Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT):
The next generation arc therapy for faster treatments with lower radiation dose to the patient.
Elekta VMAT (Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy) is Elekta’s next generation arc therapy technique that establishes new standards for radiation therapy treatment speed and dose reduction to the patient. With Elekta VMAT, single or multiple radiation beams sweep in uninterrupted arc(s) around the patient, dramatically speeding treatment delivery. Doctors can use Elekta VMAT with complete or partial arc(s) to reduce treatment times from the eight to twelve minutes required for conventionalradiation therapy to as few as two minutes.
Three-dimensional volume imaging technology integrated into Elekta treatment systems increases the precision of Elekta VMAT. This enables physicians to visualize the tumor target at the time of treatment and to guide therapy that both maximizes the radiation dose to the target and minimizes exposure to surrounding healthy tissues.
Most important, compared to other commercial arc therapy techniques, Elekta VMAT provides the oncologist with the greatest freedom of choice regarding how the optimal dose will be delivered. This is achieved through the unique flexibility of Elekta treatment systems to simultaneously apply digital control to all treatment parameters, allowing doctors to manipulate the radiation dose and the imaging dose. Both advantages mean patients receive the lowest possible dose outside of the targeted area with their Elekta VMAT treatment.
Elekta VMAT from Elekta Oncology
Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT):
Our cancer doctors use Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT), one of the most cutting-edge innovations in cancer technology available.
Tumors can move, because of breathing and other movement in the body. IGRT allows our doctors to locate and track the tumor at the time of treatment. With this technology, we can deliver precise radiation treatment to tumors that shift as a result of breathing and movement of the bladder and bowels.
This also allows our radiation oncologists to make technical adjustments when a tumor moves outside of the planned treatment range. As a result, the radiation treatment is targeted to the tumor as much as possible, helping to limit radiation exposure to healthy tissue and reduce common radiation side effects.
Learn how we deliver IGRT with EleKta’s Synergy system.
Elekta Synergy®
Setting the standard for confident care.
Elekta Synergy system was the first linear accelerator to bring 3D image guidance into the treatment set up process. The system is equipped with imaging tools that help clinicians visualize tumor targets and normal tissue, and their movement between and during fractions. The integration of this technology in the Elekta Synergy gantry enables physicians to perform imaging with the patient in the treatment position at the time of treatment, to optimize patient setup before therapy.
Key imaging tools include 3D and 4D volumetric cone-beam imaging for soft tissue visualization; 2D real-time, fluoroscopic-like imaging for targets that move frequently; and 2D kV imaging for standard and orthogonal planar imaging. Elekta Synergy also features sophisticated ultra-low leakage field shaping with a fully integrated multileaf collimator, in addition to a 40 x 40 cm uninterrupted field size to simplify and refine treatment of larger-field targets.
- Preset driven and inline reconstruction
- Large field-of-view (largest commercially available)
- Advanced registration tools with the Intuity* package
- 4D/3D and 2D imaging in kV
- 2D MV imaging at the time of treatment
Symmetry™
Managing respiratory motion.
Symmetry uses unique anatomically correlated 4D image guidance at the time of treatment to give volumetric visualization of respiratory motion and the ability to correct for baseline shifts. Accounting for baseline shift will support delivery of treatments with only small margins required for free breathing. Gating or tracking are not required. This helps achieve symmetrical dose distribution for a variety of planning techniques, including ITV.
- Uninterrupted patient set-up and treatment delivery
- Accounts for baseline shift
- Enables margin reduction
- Simple intuitive workflow
- Ideal for SBRT