A Medical Device Daily

Clinical reports on the 4-D Localization System made by Calypso Medical (Seattle) are being presented this week at the 48th annual meeting of the American Associ-ation of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM; College Park, Maryland), running through Thursday at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando.

These reports discuss the Calypso System with permanently implanted Beacon transponders, which is pending 510(k) clearance. Calypso said the system is designed to provide objective, continuous, real-time tumor localization and tracking capability.

In a statement, Calypso said: “For the first time, the clinician is able to measure and monitor the precise position and motion of the tumor during external beam radiation therapy delivery without adding ionizing radiation.” Calypso said it recently completed studies for continuous, real-time localization and tracking prostate tumors undergoing radiation therapy treatment, totaling more than 1,500 treatment sessions. It said these studies represent the world's first continuous inter- and intra-fraction prostate motion analysis.

Additional investigations for lung, head and neck cancer applications and the use of AC electromagnetic tracking with IGRT technology will be highlighted in abstracts presented at the AAPM meeting and published simultaneously in the journal Medical Physics:

Calypso, founded in 1999, is a privately held firm focused on organ motion management solutions intended to improve the delivery of radiation therapy. It has developed an AC electromagnetic localization platform pending FDA 510(k) clearance.

Also at the AAPM meeting:

• Philips Medical Systems (Andover, Massachusetts) reported release of its Model Based Segmentation (MBS) software for IGRT workflow enhancement, an upgrade on the current Pinnacle(3) Radiation Therapy Planning system.

Philips said that Pinnacle(3) combines AcQSim(3) simulation, Syntegra image fusion and P(3)IMRT modules to provide an oncology toolbox capable of sculpting radiation doses to tumors. The new MBS software reduces the time it takes to contour tumors and anatomical structures “and is a crucial step toward the future of IGRT and the ability to quickly adapt treatment plans based on patient response to daily treatment.”

MBS software includes an anatomical library of 3-D patient organ structure models. Users drag and drop the models onto patient image data, and the software automatically adapts to each patient's anatomy. The library of anatomical models grows as new patient data are added, providing the ability to build a library based on regional demographic or clinical practice specialties.

“Philips' investment in research and clinical IGRT partnerships has paid off with the launch of MBS,” said David Robinson, project manager for Philips and a certified medical dosimetrist. “IGRT workflow is enhanced by allowing clinicians to quickly contour the tumors and organs at risk in three dimensions, then propagate the organs to alternate 4D datasets to help physicians determine the extent of tumor movement within the patient. This capability opens up the possibility to adapt the daily treatment plan on the fly.”

• BrainLAB (Munich, Germany), a developer of cancer therapy systems, reported the availability of the complete iPlan RT treatment-planning platform.

BrainLab said that iPlan RT “offers . . . the ability to combine various radiotherapy and radiosurgery treatment modalities, improved workflow and increased visibility throughout the planning process. Furthermore, iPlan RT is fully integrated in the BrainLAB Intelligent Treatment Framework that brings together radiotherapy with surgery and chemotherapy in a comprehensive oncology approach.”

BrainLab said that iPlan RT Dose software allows physicians to choose between available radiation treatment modalities such as conformal beam, dynamic conformal arc, and IMRT, or a combination of these different modalities, which offers clinicians the flexibility to compose the individual treatment approach.

Additionally, clinicians can efficiently customize the treatment plan according to the patient-specific requirements by using various automatic and template-based planning features. Intuitive 2-D, 3-D and animated views also provide full visibility and allow for better-informed placement decisions to ensure precise treatment planning.

BrainLab bills iPlan RT Dose as “the final component of the iPlan multi-disciplinary software platform, providing capabilities in target definition and stereotactic radiosurgery treatment planning.”

Dr. Timothy Solberg, professor and chief of medical physics at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (Omaha), who has been using iPlan RT for about four months, said, “New planning systems do not come out that often – normally it's just a few software upgrades. The BrainLAB iPlan RT platform . . . represents a new paradigm in seamlessly integrating all different treatment modalities like conformal, dynamic arc, and IMRT in one plan for a best possible treatment.

“We can use this for all modalities, not just radiosurgery, thus it provides an extension into our extra-cranial and IMRT treatments,” he said. “We have also started to export the results of unique iPlan functions such as the atlas automatic organ segmentation into our existing RT planning system utilizing the DICOM RT standard.”

Ralf Schira, global marketing manager for BrainLAB, said, “With the completion of our iPlan RT platform, clinicians now have access to a powerful portfolio of tools in one hospitalwide solution. Difficult-to-treat indications can now be planned faster, more flexible and with better results then ever before.”