An Innovative Technology In Radiotherapy For Cancer Care Treatment in Bangalore

True Beam STx is an advanced radio surgery system wherein it seamlessly delivers Intensity Modulated RT, Image guided RT, RapidarcTM, SRS & SBRT in synchronous with inbuilt Onboard Imaging device (OBI) and Real-time Position Management System (RPMTM) allow Radiation Oncology Team to tailor perfect treatment delivery

It is engineered to perform noninvasive, image-guided radio surgery procedures with pinpoint accuracy and precision. It works by choreographing highly sophisticated imaging, treatment delivery and motion management technologies making it possible to deliver treatments more quickly while compensating for tumor/patient motion. This opens the door to new possibilities for the treatment of challenging cancers throughout the body including those in the brain, spine, lung, liver, pancreas and prostate.

Radio surgery or stereotactic radiotherapy is a term that includes a type of cancer therapy in which very precisely focused beams of radiation target the tumor. The beams are as exact as a scalpel, but accomplish tumor destruction without conventional surgical tools. Machines like the True Beam might one day replace or be considered the equivalent of surgery.

How Trubeam works:

• The True Beam machine, however, is so large it requires almost the same amount of space as an operating room. It stands 9 feet tall and 15 feet long, and including all its components, weighs more than 9 tons. Its curvilinear arm, called a gantry, rotates in a complete circle to enable treatment from any direction. The level of control is remarkable considering the weight of the gantry.
• The True Beam is driven by a new form of medical linear accelerator, the mechanism that transforms electrons into photons by shooting them at a metal target at nearly the speed of light. The energy from that impact is measured in millions of volts.
• The new machine’s radiation delivery precision is controlled to within less than a millimeter, as its advanced imaging checks accuracy every 10 milliseconds, continually monitoring more than 100,000 data points. True Beam’s 6D imaging system captures views in 60 percent less time than in previous machines and reduces overall X-ray exposure for that imaging by one-quarter. The increased speed means less blurring in each image, which helps to more clearly define the edges of a tumor.
• When the photons, or X-rays, contact cancer cells, the result is meant to be so lethal that the cancer cells will lose their ability to reproduce and will then die.The True Beam linear accelerator is capable of delivering radiation at a faster dose rate than most conventional linear accelerators. This advance translates into shorter treatment times for patients. The time for a typical radiation treatment could be cut in half or more with the True Beam. TrueBeam STx is fast, with most treatments taking just a few minutes a day.

Advantages of Trubeam StxSystem:

• A TrueBeam STx system can deliver treatments 2.4 to 4 times faster with a dose delivery rate of up to 2,400 monitor units per minute—double the output of most other radiosurgery systems. A radiosurgery treatment that typically takes 30 to 60 minutes can be completed in just 5 to 20 minutes.
• In addition to enabling for a more comfortable experience, as the patient spends less time on the treatment couch, faster treatments also allow for reduced chance of patient and tumor movement during treatment.
• The True Beam’s technology also enables more effective treatment of tumors in locations that were previously difficult to treat because of the sensitivity of the surrounding tissue to radiation.
• Other special features improve the accuracy of such a treatment so the overall duration of a course of treatment may also be shortened from several weeks to just a few days.
• Radio surgery is an effective treatment for many different types of cancer. It uses sophisticated technology to deliver very precise and accurate beams of radiation to a tumor while minimizing exposure to nearby healthy tissue.
• There are two main types of radio surgery—stereotactic radio surgery (called SRS), which is for cancers in the brain and spinal region, and stereotactic body radiotherapy (also called SBRT), for cancers in other parts of the body. Both of these treatments are noninvasive—that is, the body isn’t operated on in the traditional sense.
• For lung and other tumors subject to respiratory motion, TrueBeam STx offers Gated Rapid Arc radiotherapy, which makes it possible to monitor the patient’s breathing and compensates for movement of the tumor while the dose is being delivered in a continuous rotation of the treatment machine.
• The True Beam system is especially good for tumors deep in the body because it adjusts for movements in tumors, which are nudged in various directions with each breath. In a technique called respiratory gating, the True Beam sends out radiation only when the tumor is within the beam’s line of delivery. The platform couch which holds the patient also adjusts with the same sub-millimeter accuracy.
• In addition to its impressive technical specifications, TrueBeam STx has also been designed to address patient comfort. It operates quietly and has built-in music capabilities so the patient can listen to music during their treatment.
• The therapist who operates the system can be in constant two-way communication with the patient. Plus the therapist can visually see the patient through three closed-circuit monitors.

This is the most advanced technology that’s available for Radio surgery when it is combined, this technology with expert group of physicians who are developing cutting edge treatment programs, out patients can be treated more rapidly and effectively, and at the same time, more safely than ever before.