November 30 1998  


 

CHICAGO -- (November 30, 1998) -- Nucletron, a worldwide leader in radiotherapy, today announced that CT Assisted Simulation (CTA Sim) streamlines and enhances the accuracy of the treatment planning process by allowing conventional simulation to be used as a tool for verifying the results of the virtual planning process. With CTA Sim, the entire treatment planning team has more control over the effects of patient positioning and beam placement, resulting in improved verification of targeted radiation applications.


Nucletron’s new Virtual Simulation System (VSS) is a new module for the PLATO treatment planning system. It includes the CTA Sim option that provides two-way data exchange with Simulix-MC or HP, Nucletron’s simulator line. After precise anatomical volumes and treatment fields have been determined in VSS, field parameter information is transferred via CTA Sim to the Simulix for automated set-up and verification of the treatment plan, saving time and avoiding manual transcription of critical data. It also provides the display of live fluoroscopy from the Simulix for comparison with digitally reconstructed radiographs (DRR), aiding the verification of correct treatment field placement. This two-way communication also enables any parameter changes made at Simulix to be automatically updated in VSS, ready for recalculation of doses and transmission to the treatment Record and Verify system.


"Because it verifies information gathered from different machines in one process, CTA Sim enhances the workflow of the entire treatment planning chain," said Edwin Vandermeulen, Managing Director of Nucletron B.V., The Netherlands, "It improves the transformation of intented plan into actual traetment set-up, while making the process more efficient."


PLATO is the first treatment planning system to integrate patient information obtained through both virtual and conventional simulation into one comprehensive radiation treatment planning environment. With PLATO VSS, radiation oncologists can create a 3D patient model based on CT images that can be displayed in single or multiple windows. Once these images have been acquired, the patient no longer needs to be physically involved in the treatment planning process. Using a dedicated workstation, physicians can view these images and determine volume definition using simple contouring on user-selected slices. With tools for adding margins and interpolation, volumes of interest can be quickly defined, reducing a traditional bottleneck in CT-based treatment planning.


VSS provides a four-image window display that offers maximum information for beam placement. These images include a 3D surface rendering, a Beams' Eye View (BEV) with Multi-Leaf Collimator display, transverse and reformatted images and Digitally Reconstructed Radiographs (DRR) to the BEV. Volumes and beams defined using VSS can then be used by PLATO RTS for dose planning.


VSS is 510(k) cleared and will be commercially available in December 1998. It can be purchased in a stand-alone 3D treatment planning environment, or with the CTA Sim option that will enable VSS to interface with both the Simulix-MC and HP systems.


Nucletron, a worldwide leader in radiotherapy systems, specializes in some of the most innovative products used for cancer treatment. The company has 11 offices worldwide, with Nucletron headquarters in The Netherlands. The American office, Nucletron Corp. is located in Columbia, MD, to serve the United States, Mexico and Canada.


More information on Nucletron products and services can be found on this web site or email info@nucletron.com if you have questions.