MITA, AdvaMed to develop rad therapy patient protection

The Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance (MITA) and the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed) have teamed up for the creation of an industry-wide initiative to develop and implement additional patient protection features for radiation therapy equipment. 

According to the two groups, the “Radiation Therapy Readiness Check Initiative” will ensure that radiation therapy equipment, accessories and patients are properly positioned prior to delivery of therapy, enabling patient treatment plans to be completed as they were intended by physicians.

In addition, the initiative will provide technologists, physicists and physicians with additional checkpoints to ensure that radiation therapy procedures are being performed correctly. The effort will include the following:

• Radiation Therapy Pre-Treatment Quality Assurance Verification and Approval: With the new verification, if the system has not recorded a QA approval for an initial and/or modified treatment plan, the machine will not run until authorized professional personnel acknowledge that the QA check is complete.
• Verification of Beam Modifying Accessories: The beam modification check will verify the correct placement of appropriate beam modifying accessories (e.g., wedges, blocks, compensators, etc.) and prevents a machine from operating if the accessories are incorrect, missing or out of place.
• Patient Positioning Confirmation: By way of enhancements made to the treatment system, the operator can confirm visually that the patient is positioned as intended in the treatment plan. The operator will then have to enter a confirmation of a positive comparison.

MITA and AdvaMed said that radiation therapy manufacturers have agreed to begin work on implementing these initiatives into new products, with the hopes of making them available within the next two years.