4D image-guided radiotherapy treats moving target, a tumor

Emory University School of Medicine's Department of Radiation Oncology recently became one of the first cancer treatment centers to use imaging and treatment technologies to treat gall bladder cancer with highly precise image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT), according to Varian Medical Systems.

The treatment included two technologies from Varian, the On-Board Imager used for automated, image-guided patient positioning, along with Varian's RPM Respiratory Gating to synchronize the treatment with the patient's respiratory cycle, Varian said.

The procedural approach was established to compensate for tumor movement resulting from the patient's ordinary breathing during surgery, which can often be a problem area in the treatment of thoracic cancers, said Varian.

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The nuclear imaging isotope shortage of molybdenum-99 may be over now that the sidelined reactor is restarting. ASNC's president says PET and new SPECT technologies helped cardiac imaging labs better weather the storm.

CMS has more than doubled the CCTA payment rate from $175 to $357.13. The move, expected to have a significant impact on the utilization of cardiac CT, received immediate praise from imaging specialists.

The newly cleared offering, AutoChamber, was designed with opportunistic screening in mind. It can evaluate many different kinds of CT images, including those originally gathered to screen patients for lung cancer. 

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