April 24, 2019 — Accuray announced the launch of its Synchrony motion tracking and correction technology to be used with the Radixact System for radiation therapy. This new feature adds intrafraction motion synchronization capabilities to the Radixact System, enabling real-time tracking, visualization and correction for tumor motion during treatment, with the goal of improving dose accuracy and treatment times compared to conventional radiation therapy systems. The Radixact System with Synchrony will be unveiled at the European Society for Radiotherapy & Oncology (ESTRO) meeting, April 26-30 in Milan, Italy.
Originally developed to expand on the CyberKnife System's automatic motion tracking and correction capabilities, Synchrony uses continual image guidance to automatically adjust the movement of the beam in synchronization with the movement of the target volume. The technology is designed to correct for tumors that move as a result of bodily processes, including respiration and digestion, as well as patient movement, and has the capability to perform fiducial-free tracking for lung indications.
The Radixact System is equipped with a built-in computed tomography (CT) scanner that performs daily imaging before each treatment session. This provides clinicians with information on the shape and position of the tumor, and makes it possible for them to identify and correct for any variations in patient positioning. Clinicians are then able to use Synchrony to automatically synchronize radiation treatment delivery to the moving tumor's location throughout the treatment session. This functionality is designed to provide highly precise radiation dose delivery to tumors that move, such as lung and prostate, and smaller treatment margins around the tumor, minimizing the amount of healthy tissue exposed to high-dose radiation.
Accuray expects to begin shipping the Synchrony technology commercially by the end of calendar year 2019.
Jennifer Smilowitz, Ph.D., clinical professor University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, and Fellow of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM), has been involved in the development of the Radixact System from its start. She commented, "The introduction of Synchrony for this system will enable clinicians to more easily, and efficiently, deliver precise radiation treatments to tumors that move using image-guided, intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IG-IMRT) with target tracking. In my opinion, this has the potential to expand the way the Radixact System is used, as well as the types of patients who are treated with it."
For more information: www.accuray.com