From left, Robert Staton, Ph.D., medical physicist, and Michael Brown, RTT, chief radiation therapist with the first TomoHD system now in operation at MD Anderson Orlando.
June 22, 2012 — MD Anderson Cancer Center Orlando announced it has installed the first Accuray TomoHD system in Florida.
Unlike traditional radiation therapy devices, the TomoHD system combines fully integrated computed tomography (CT) imaging and intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) on a CT scanner platform. Each daily treatment includes a 3-D image of the patient’s anatomy to ensure highly accurate radiation delivery. This provides clinicians unprecedented confidence that tumors will receive their intended dosage from one day to the next.
A major difference with the TomoHD system is the way that radiation is delivered to the treatment area. The radiation beam is divided into thousands of tiny “beamlets” all aiming at the tumor during multiple 360-degree rotations around the patient. The treatment dose conforms to the tumor and avoids critical organs, which can mean improved outcomes, fewer side effects and a higher quality of life for the patient.
“We have continually been a leader in delivering the most accurate and individualized TomoTherapy treatments and we are thrilled to have this state-of-the-art technology available to our patients,” said Mark Roh, M.D., president of MD Anderson Orlando. “Our new TomoHD system will not only provide the highest quality of radiation treatment to our patients battling complex cancers, it will also be a tool for our oncologists to educate clinicians on best practice TomoTherapy treatment techniques for patients worldwide.”
“We congratulate MD Anderson Cancer Center Orlando on the installation of their TomoHD system,” said Omar Dawood, M.D., M.P.H., senior vice president of global medical affairs for Accuray. “The TomoHD system will provide them with the ability to target tumors with extreme accuracy and allow them to create highly individualized treatments for each patient. Their choice to offer this technology to their patients affirms the importance of the TomoHD system in supporting their place as a leader in the radiation oncology community with a continued commitment to patient care.”
For more information: www.accuray.com, www.mdacco.com