September 30 1999
Veenendaal, The Netherlands (September 30, 1999) - Nucletron B.V. is pleased to announce that clinical sites worldwide can take advantage of seamless information flow throughout the Radiotherapy Department - by utilising Nucletron’s PLATO 3D Treatment Planning System and Siemens Radiology and Radiotherapy Products. These integrated solutions are made possible by the direct electronic interface of Nucletron’s PLATO 3D Treatment Planning System to the Siemens LANTIS® Oncology Management System and to Computed Tomography (CT) Systems, e.g. Siemens SOMATOM Plus 4 CT. PLATO uses imported CT images to generate treatment plans, and exports these plans to electronic patient files within LANTIS for treatment with a Siemens PRIMUS linear accelerator. PLATO supports all delivery techniques available on PRIMUS including Multileaf Collimator (MLC), Virtual Wedge and treatment sequences using SIMTEC. Utilising the resulting electronic patient files or ‘digital chart’, the flow of patient information in the clinical environment is managed in a safe, reliable, and time-efficient manner. The PLATO-to-LANTIS interface is now operating at clinics in Europe and the United States. Kristen Dek, Dosimetrist, at the Radiation Oncology Center, Park South USA, who is transferring PLATO 3D treatment plans to LANTIS, stated, "Since we have had the PLATO/LANTIS interface, the system has significantly reduced the amount of time to perform routine entries such as patient write chart, treatment parameters, and treatment dose information. It helps me manage my time better, allowing more time for patient planning. It is great…..the interface exports to the machine and almost eliminates possible human error in translation." Increased integration between the two companies’ products is of key importance for further advances in the quality of cancer treatment. For instance, Nucletron and Siemens are also working together to deliver intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), which will provide the clinician with the highest level of control for delivering radiation dose to the tumor while protecting surrounding healthy tissue. The PLATO 3D Treatment Planning System provides all tools necessary to plan, optimise and evaluate Radiotherapy Treatment plans, including conventional or inverse planning for external beams, Virtual Simulation, High Dose Rate Brachytherapy, Seeds, Stereotactic Radiosurgery and Radiobiological Planning for External Beam Plans, Brachytherapy or a combination of both. Nucletron’s integrated approach to treatment planning from tumor detection through plan verification is now offered under a new umbrella brand name: PLATOcomplete TM, which was introduced at AAPM 1999 in Nashville. Nucletron B.V., with headquarters in Veenendaal, The Netherlands, is a subsidiary of Delft Instruments, an international group of companies with some 1100 employees and annual sales of almost NLG 400 million. Nucletron, a world leader in radiotherapy systems, specialises in the development and manufacture of the most innovative products used in cancer treatment. The company has sales, service and clinical support offices world-wide, including its corporate headquarters in The Netherlands. The Nucletron website address is http:// www.nucletron.com