User Interface Streamlines Proton Therapy Steps

A new interface for a proton therapy system streamlines the steps for positioning, imaging, and treating patients with image-guided intensity-modulated proton therapy (IMPT).

Varian Medical Systems (Palo Alto, CA, USA) presented a new user interface for the company’s ProBeam proton therapy system at the upcoming annual meeting of the Particle Therapy Co-Operative Group (PTCOG 51) held in Seoul (Korea), May 14-19, 2012.

The new user interface for Varian’s ProBeam system is based on technology that was developed for the TrueBeam system for radiotherapy and radiosurgery. This includes a user-friendly treatment console that incorporates all controls for imaging, treatment, and motion management in one graphic, easy-to-use interface. “We have capitalized on Varian’s long experience designing interfaces for efficient clinical use,” said Moataz Karmalawy, head of Varian’s particle therapy group. “Clinicians who are already conversant with the TrueBeam system should have an easy time learning to operate a ProBeam system, and moving back and forth between the two.”

IMPT involves shaping the dose so that it matches the shape of the targeted tumor in three dimensions. Varian’s ProBeam system utilizes Dynamic Peak scanning, which optimizes the dose applied to every point within the area being treated. This makes it especially useful for targeting tumors with complex shapes, or tumors that wrap around critical structures like the spinal cord.
Another feature of the system, Dynamic Peak imaging, enables the use of imaging to further enhance the accuracy of tumor targeting. “Varian’s ProBeam system has been developed as a complete solution that is tightly integrated with the Aria oncology information system and Eclipse treatment planning,” said Mr. Karmalawy. “This enables an efficient and integrated workflow for planning and delivering high-quality image-guided IMPT treatments.”

Varian has equipped the Rinecker Proton Therapy Center (RPTC) in Munich (Germany), site of the world’s first clinical IMPT treatments. Construction work continues at the Scripps Proton Therapy Center (San Diego, CA, USA), which is being equipped with Varian hardware and software. The Scripps Center expects to begin treating patients in the spring of 2013. Varian has booked proton therapy technology orders for centers in Saudi Arabia and Russia, and has been named the preferred supplier for several other proton therapy ventures globally. The company’s Eclipse treatment planning system is being used to plan proton therapy treatments at several currently operating centers, and will be installed in over half of the new centers that are currently being built worldwide.

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