With current image-guided systems, clinicians have the ability to track shape changes in a patient's anatomy between treatments, but unfortunately, this does not allow for adjustments in the treatment plan prior to the treatment delivery within an acceptable timeframe. The IM-RealART system accounts for the difference in the patient from scan to scan, while still maintaining the same timeslots.

Siemens Healthcare (Erlangen, Germany) presented the IM-RealAR system at the 51st annual meeting of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) in Anaheim, CA, USA, July 26-30, 2009. "Image-plan-treatment is the wave of the future in radiation therapy,” said X. Allen Li, Ph.D., DABMP, FAAPM, chief of physics and professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin (Milwaukee, USA). "With IM-RealART, I can create new plans in as little as eight minutes, enabling me to make real-time corrections to the plan based on the interfractional anatomy variations.”

The IM-RealART system is designed specifically for immediate replanning within image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT). It combines Siemens CTVision system with the Prowess RealART treatment planning system, offering diagnostic-quality, in-room imaging, while allowing physicians to react immediately to changes in patient anatomy and replan the treatment on the spot.

"With the speed and accuracy of IM-RealART solution, plans can be quickly adapted and delivered, with the further advantage of targeting only the regions that need to be treated, sparing healthy tissue,” said Wolfgang Rueger, vice president, oncology care systems, Siemens Healthcare. "Precise targeting and accurate plans allow for optimal patient care.”

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