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At the invitation of Nucletron, medical physicists converged on San Francisco in June for two intensive days of discussion about radiation therapy planning.

Representing the range of radiation oncology departments, from large academic centers to freestanding community clinics, participants came from the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, as well as from across the United States. In spirited give-and-take, they covered issues such as target definition and anatomy modeling, the challenges of arc therapy planning, usability and workflow, and new techniques for mixing X-ray IMRT with energy-modulated electron beams.

“The size and international flavor of the meeting were great,” says Bruce Faddegon of the University of California, San Francisco, department of radiation oncology. “Nucletron was open to sharing their ideas and receiving our thoughts.”

Participants learned about Nucletron’s roadmap for the Oncentra treatment planning system from Mats Högberg, Oncentra business line manager. Nucletron representatives also shared their thinking about the direction of adaptive planning. “We were able to hear about the pressing concerns of our customers, share our directions with them, and confirm that we are making the right decisions about developing Oncentra to meet their needs,” says Högberg.

Customer interaction is important to Nucletron—at all stages of product development and service. “We are looking forward to providing more opportunities and channels for communicating and closing the loop with customers,” notes Tom Chadwick, North American field marketing manager for treatment planning.

PLATO software has served users and patients well for many years. Now, Oncentra takes treatment planning to the next level of innovation and function in a PC-based environment. New tools speed contouring and assist volumetric treatment planning. PLATO users will find that planning high-quality external beam and brachytherapy treatments is faster with Oncentra.

Numerous PLATO customers from around the world have already made the move to Oncentra, switching seamlessly to a system that prepares them for the future of treatment planning. To help PLATO users make the transition to Oncentra, Nucletron offers a tailored migration package. “We have created a special program to make sure that PLATO customers can continue providing patient care at the highest possible standards,” says migration program director Bert Scheenstra.

Many migration resources are available. Web demos about the Oncentra Dynamic Planning Environment can be viewed live and interactively or downloaded for later viewing. A free migration tool converts plan data in a single action. Nucletron also provides migration planning assistance as well as options for user training.

These and other migration-related resources are available on the Nucletron website at http://www.nucletron.com/platotooncentra/. PLATO users can also request migration information and assistance by emailing PlatoMigration@ nucletron.com.

Just as interconnectivity is a hallmark of open treatment planning, open communication is a Nucletron standard. To enhance customer communications, Nucletron has introduced Online, the newsletter you’re currently reading. Online brings news of treatment planning developments to radiation oncologists, medical physicists, dosimetrists, and others in the clinical radiation community.

“We’re always looking for better ways to reach out to the treatment planning world,” says Bill Dowd, VP, North America. “We want to be able to share our plans and developments with customers, and also to learn more about customer needs and interests. Online will help us do both.”Oncentra users and others with an interest in open treatment planning are welcome to submit suggestions for articles. “We have our own stories to share,” says Dowd, “but more importantly, we want to hear about the concerns and ideas of RT software users. This new publication will give us all a way to learn more about technical developments, interesting research projects, and innovative uses of open treatment planning.” Comments, questions, and story suggestions may be submitted to Mats Högberg.

To receive your own copy of Online on a regular basis, call Vicki Younes at +1 443 545 2207, or email Vicki with your name, title, institution, and mailing address.