The Newest Addition to the Computer Technology Used to Plan Radiation Treatment

Varian Eclipse Treatment Planning System

The Varian Eclipse Treatment Planning System is a powerful computer system that combines advanced graphics with lightning-fast dose calculation on a Windows®-based PC. One important advantage of the Eclipse Treatment Planning is that it is completely integrated with the other equipment used at the CRM Cancer Treatment Center. The system communicates with the IMPAC Record and Verify System and the Varian Clinac 2100 C/D linear accelerator that actually produces the radiation beams used to treat the patient. The system provides for treatment planning capabilities for simple radiation treatment, for 3-D Conformal Radiation Therapy (3D-CRT), as well as for the highly complex and most sophisticated technology for external beam radiation therapy, Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT). In addition, the Eclipse system is able to utilize either CT, MRI, or PET scan data for Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT) planning. This is an important advantage over many of the other Treatment Planning Computer Systems used at many facilities that cannot use the important “functional imaging” information generated from a PET scan. The use of PET scan data allows for targeting of cancer cells that may not even be visible on CT or MRI scans. If the treatment planning system cannot use functional imaging, and correlate the location of cancer identified on a PET scan with the CT or MRI images used for radiation therapy patient treatment setup, then one cannot be sure that the radiation beam is “on target”.

The Eclipse system performs complicated calculations so fast that a complex IMRT treatment plan can be generated in as little as 20 minutes, compared to the 3 to 4 hour calculation time required by the system previously used at the clinic. That same slower, less versatile system is still in use at some facilities in Eastern North Carolina

The combination of the Eclipse Treatment Planning System and the Varian linear accelerator with the Millenium-120 leaf MultiLeaf Collimator (MLC) results in one of the finest and most accurate treatment delivery systems available to patients anywhere in this area of the country. The Varian Oncology Systems Smart Beam® Targeting System.

For more information, click on the link below.

http://www.varian.com/orad/prd077.html

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