The Christie set to integrate 11 SGRT systems

The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester is to install 11 surface-guided radiotherapy (SGRT) systems from Vision RT. The systems will be installed across all four Christie treatment centres and integrated into existing Varian and Elekta linacs as well as Philips CT scanners. This investment will initially form part of the hospital’s drive to expand its deep inspiration breath-hold (DIBH) service.

A key factor in choosing Vision RT technology was that it is contactless and non-invasive, to help meet the hospital’s infection prevention standards.

AlignRT uses proprietary 3D stereo cameras to monitor the patient’s surface in all six degrees of freedom, in real-time, comparing the live surface with the planned position in sub-millimetric and sub-degree accuracy. This ensures that radiation is delivered exactly as planned and in the case of DIBH the radiation beam is only enabled with the patient at the correct breath-hold level and the beam automatically paused if the patient leaves this position.

Once the service is up and running, The Christie plans to expand its use of SGRT with AlignRT, as well as exploring the future potential for tattoo and mark-free radiation therapy.

Jo Taylor is a breast cancer patient at The Christie Hospital and founder of @abcdiagnosis, an organisation supporting primary and secondary breast cancer patients to make informed choices. She was involved in the discussion process around access to DIBH and said: “As a patient, avoiding long-term side effects is a big concern during cancer treatment and more and more of us are learning about the advantages of being treated with SGRT. Also, this addressed inequalities of care for primary cancer patients in the NHS. I’m really glad The Christie is implementing this system.”

Picture: AlignRT uses 3D stereo cameras to monitor the patient’s surface in real-time.

Published on page 10 of the January 2021 issue of RAD Magazine.