Philips highlights integrated oncology imaging suite

Philips Healthcare is showing three systems for oncology imaging, MR, CT, and PET/CT at the 50th annual meeting of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO) in Boston this week.

The company said it is expanding its presence in oncology with a comprehensive suite that offers a full range of options for physicians and clinicians to target various cancers and improve care for patients.

Philips is showcasing its Brilliance CT Big Bore Oncology Configuration that is designed specifically for radiation oncology. An 85-cm bore allows for flexible treatment setups and comprehensive motion management tools to improve confidence in treatment volume assessment. In addition, Tumor LOC and motion management tools are now available on the Brilliance Workspace.

The new Philips GEMINI TF PET/CT Big Bore features a full 85-cm bore diameter for both PET and CT scans. The system is designed to meet the unique requirements of radiation oncology applications, providing improved planning in cases that call for patients to be in extended positions, such as with treatments of breast and colorectal cancers. The system allows patients to be positioned for simulation in the same manner as they would to receive therapy.

The firm is offering its 4D time-of-flight technology, a toolkit to better manage respiratory motion by offering comprehensive tools for combined CT, PET and PET/CT correlated imaging on its GEMINI TF PET/CT and GEMINI TF PET/CT Big Bore modalities.

Philips is also displaying is collaboration efforts with Traxtal, developer of the PercuNav system. The companies have collaborated to deliver an image guided interventional system that offers minimally invasive soft-tissue navigation and auto-image fusion of ultrasound with CT and MR. The system includes real-time 3D visualization and navigation to guide needles and probes to defined targets and has been used clinically for a range of applications, including biopsies, radiofrequency ablation and abscess drainage.

Philips is showing, as a work-in-progress at ASTRO, a version of its Panorama High Field Open (HFO) MR system with therapy simulation capabilities for treatment planning and interventional oncology. An open MR design allows patients to be scanned in treatment position, which is often not possible in a cylindrical magnet.

The firm is also displaying the latest iteration of its radiation treatment planning system, Pinnacle3 Version 9, being shown as a work-in-progress. Expected for release in the second quarter of 2009, the new version is being designed to offer new workflow improvements, including features such as intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT).

Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT) feature enhancements include handling of 4D image sets, streamlined image import that allows for one click imports of multiple image sets, and expanded DICOM export functionality. To address the more complex treatment plans of volumetric arc therapy planning, Philips is also demonstrating SmartArc, a dose planning module for volumetric intensity modulated arc therapy based on the company’s existing IMRT and conformal arc planning software.

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