Varian, Stanford U granted $3.6M for advancing CT
The Ginzton Technology Center, the research and development facility for Varian Medical Systems and Stanford University in California, has been awarded a $3.6 million, five-year research grant from the National Institutes of Health, aimed at improving CT image quality for patients with implanted metal objects, including hip implants and dental fillings.
The research grant will be used to develop tools to combine kilovoltage cone-beam CT data with a limited amount of megavoltage data to create a composite image with less distortion and good soft tissue resolution, according to Josh Star-Lack, PhD, from Ginzton, who noted that radiotherapy often relies on high-quality CT images for planning various cancer treatments.
The new technology—which the researchers believe could improve the accuracy of radiotherapy planning and image guidance for patients with metal objects near the targeted tumors—will undergo testing via a clinical trial conducted by Stanford and Palo Alto, Calif.-based Varian.
The research grant will be used to develop tools to combine kilovoltage cone-beam CT data with a limited amount of megavoltage data to create a composite image with less distortion and good soft tissue resolution, according to Josh Star-Lack, PhD, from Ginzton, who noted that radiotherapy often relies on high-quality CT images for planning various cancer treatments.
The new technology—which the researchers believe could improve the accuracy of radiotherapy planning and image guidance for patients with metal objects near the targeted tumors—will undergo testing via a clinical trial conducted by Stanford and Palo Alto, Calif.-based Varian.