Innovative Patient Positioning System for Cancer Treatment Commissioned

A new system for the accurate positioning of patients for ion-beam therapy has been commissioned at a center for ion beam therapy in Vienna (Austria) for first clinical use.

The system consists of a ceiling-mounted industrial robot, which can move in seven independent degrees of freedom, and uses an integrated optical tracking system that constantly monitors and corrects the couch position. Another system verifies that the patient is in the correct position before irradiation, to ensure the most accurate treatment possible.

The two new systems commissioned at the MedAustron center (Vienna, Austria) are BEC’s (Reutlingen, Germany) exacure system, and medPhoton’s (Salzburg, Austria) Imaging Ring system.

medPhoton’s Imaging Ring System (IRS) is integrated into the patient couch, and enables rapid 3-D cone beam-CT imaging (Computed Tomography). The resulting CT images are compared with the CT images from treatment planning. The exacure robot can make corrections in real time.

Dr. Bernd Mösslache, CEO of GEC, said, "The unprecedented combination of these new systems at MedAustron provide unique accuracy, speed as well as image quality for radiation therapy, unparalleled in the areas of medical robotics and imaging. We are very proud to have engineered this highly innovative solution together with our partners BEC and medPhoton, establishing new standards in Ion Therapy."

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MedAustron
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