Brainlab launches new patient positioning system

Published: 1-Aug-2012

Improved ExacTrac model delivers improvements for frameless radiosurgery and radiotherapy treatments


Brainlab has this week officially unveiled its new ExacTrac 6.0 patient positioning system, delivering key improvements for both frameless radiosurgery and radiotherapy treatments.

The system aims to further increase clinical value, deliver intuitive workflows and enable refined integration with peripheral systems.

It follows the popularity of the ExacTrac IGRT system, which is used by more than 500 institutions worldwide, treating around a million patients.

Stefan Vilsmeier, president and chief executive at Brainlab, said: “Radiotherapy departments worldwide rely on ExacTrac because it instils user confidence by continuously and accurately targeting the intended volume throughout the entire treatment. ExacTrac 6.0 is another Brainlab advancement dedicated to improving patient treatments and clinical results.”

ExacTrac uses high-resolution stereoscopic X-ray images to instantly detect and visualise internal structures and their location inside the body before and during treatment. A selective, intelligent image fusion algorithm allows the elimination of artifacts and ambiguities caused by objects not rigidly correlated to the target structure. Clinicians can then correct patient position in six dimensions of freedom in order to accurately target the treatment area.

Three major American facilities have already acquired the new system, including the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, the UCSF Medical Center in San Francisco, and the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas, which acquired two new systems and upgraded its existing installation.

Michael T Gillin, a professor of radiation physics, at the centre in Texas, said: “The technological advancement can help us to enhance our patient throughput and deliver state-of-the art cancer treatments. Only the fundamental architecture of ExacTrac allows us to instantaneously visualise internal structures during treatment, even at rotated couch and gantry angles.”

The 6.0 series features a new dual generator allowing for simultaneous imaging and significantly reducing set-up time, remote control of the robotics module to eliminate the need to enter the treatment room for rotational corrections, cone beam CT integration for patient alignment in 6D and advanced integration with a record and verify system enabling users to export shifts and images in DICOM RT format and review offline.

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