Patient Positioning System for Radiosurgery

A new patient-positioning system is integrated into a radio-surgery system designed to treat complicated high-risk spinal tumors through precise irradiation.

The x-ray-based positioning system allows a patient to be automatically brought into a previously planned and precise treatment position and be monitored for subtle shifts in position throughout the procedure. A special high-resolution collimator shapes the treatment beam to exactly match the contour of the tumor, so that even irregularly shaped tumors can be treated accurately while limiting the dose to the spinal cord. Spinal irradiation can thus be delivered with a higher dose in a single treatment session and with fewer side effects than before.

At the core of the positioning system is an x-ray "eye” that looks inside the patient immediately before treatment to confirm identification of the tumor. Intelligent software then compares these images with a 3D model of the patent's anatomy, based on diagnostic images taken previously. The system automatically determines the optimal treatment position. Using the bone structure of the spine as a reference, the system determines the location of the tumor online and positions the patient's body in real-time through automatic couch movement. The Novalis shaped beam surgery system and patient-positioning system were developed by BrainLab (Munich, Germany).

"To date, we have treated more than 100 patients with spinal metastases with single dose radiosurgery. All the patients experienced a reduction in pain and an improved quality of life following treatment,” said Dr. Samuel Ryu, head of the radiosurgery program at Henry Ford Hospital (Detroit, MI, USA).




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