This newsletter is devoted entirely on MedCom’s VeriSuite® patient verification system. The development for this exciting patient position verification system was already started in 2003. It is now prepared for a large range of treatment room configurations such as fixed beam treatment rooms (e.g. for head and neck treatments) and treatment rooms with a rotating gantry with up to three radiographic axis for verification.

The high accuracy, high degree of automation, intuitive user interface and fast calculations of 6 degrees of freedom (DoF) as well as DICOM network connectivity are only some of the technical characteristics of the system. Major vendors of particle therapy systems as well as other treatment centers use this software for their treatment rooms. Soon treatment centers in three continents will be equipped with our technology.

And once started, the further development of our systems is a continuous process: supervision of the patient position during the treatment is a real hot issue where we will provide solutions in a future version. We are looking forward to inform you in one of our next newsletters about the innovations in this area.

Closing we would like to wish all of you, families and friends a peaceful and relaxing Christmas and a happy, prosperous and successful new year 2008

Sincerely yours,
Prof. Dr. Georgios Sakas

Content:

ASTRO 2007 MedCom’s VeriSuite® Particle System integrated in IBA Proton Therapy gantries

Successful presentation of the VeriSuite-Particle software on the booth of IBA (www.iba-worldwide.com) during ASTRO 2007 in Los Angeles. The IBA booth created wide attention by the visitors of the ASTRO 2007 tradeshow. The new design for gantry treatment rooms presented in a life-size scale attracted many people interested in proton or particle therapy. Embedded in this new treatment room design is the working place of a therapist installed with MedCom’s VeriSuite® -Particle software. Many visitors from different countries, future customers of the therapy centers that are already selected for installation of VeriSuite-Particle as well as others interested in technical innovation informed themselves about MedCom's software for patient positioning in particle therapy.

PAVIA New Contract for MedCom’s VeriSuite® Particle system

MedCom receives contract for delivery of the VeriSuite® patient position verification software to heavy ion treatment center of CNAO (www.cnao.it) in Pavia which is currently under construction. MedCom provides as main contractor together with Brandis GmbH, Weinheim Germany and Schär Engineering AG, Flaach, Swiss a complete system for positioning the patient. This system consists of the patient positioner (chair, table) provided by Schär, the X-ray hardware for the verification system, provided by Brandis and the VeriSuite® software by MedCom. Three treatment rooms for fixed beam treatments are to be equipped; the first two rooms will be installed during 2008 beginning in May.

VeriSuite® MedCom PVS in RPTC

In 2004 MedCom has been selected as technology provider of the patient Position Cerification System (PVS) for the Rinecker Proton Therapy Center (RPTC) in Munich, the first commercial center for the treatment of cancer with protons in Europe. MedCom developed and delivered an integrated PVS operable in both, rotating gantries as well as static-beam rooms, employing two X-ray source and able to automatically correct the position of the patient within a few seconds. MedCom's VeriSuite(R) follows the following technical principle: The patient is positioned on the treatment table and two X-ray images are acquired it-situ. In addition, the system calculates two DRRs from a high resolution CT scan of the patient at the desired (= ideal) treatment position. The acquired X-rays defining the current patient position are compared with the ideal position as given by the DRR images. A fully automated procedure calculates then within a few seconds all movements in 6 degrees of freedom (i.e. 3 shifts and 3 rotations) necessary for correcting potential patient misplacements. The resulting correction vector is communicated to a motorized table, which autonomously shifts the patient to the ideal treatment position. MedCom had successfully installed, calibrated and tested the VeriSuite(R) system in RPTC in Munich already in May 2006. In the mean time Varian Medical Systems became new owner of Accel Intruments GmbH and will provide the Proton technology to RPTC. We expect therefore that treatment of patients in Munich may start soon. MedCom, being the only provider world-wide of such an advanced PVS within a rotating proton gantry, appreciates the progress in this project in order to demonstrate the superiority, clinical & technical maturity of VeriSuite(R), which will be also available as add-on for linear accelerators (LINACS) in the near future.

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