BOCA RATON – The Eugene M. & Christine E. Lynn Cancer Institute at Boca Raton Regional Hospital is now utilizing the CIVCO
Protura™ 6D robotic couch.
This new, robotic patient-positioning system enhances safety, precision and accuracy for patients undergoing high precision Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy and Stereotactic Radiosurgery while also increasing the efficiency of a treatment session.
Patients receiving these types of therapies are treated on a table with a gantry that rotates around them, delivering the radiation in a manner that attacks the precise configuration of a tumor from
all planes and angles. Like a ship at sea, the gantry has elements of pitch, roll and yaw that allow it to deliver the radiation beam most effectively while sparing surrounding anatomy. Controlling
these three elements is critically important to successful outcomes and patient safety.
Prior to robotic patient positioning, a treatment plan would be calibrated and therapy initiated. If adjustments were needed, the treatment session would be stopped, new calculations would be
entered and therapy resumed.
Tim Williams, MD, medical director of Radiation Oncology at the cancer center, said robotic positioning allows for automatic correction in pitch, roll and rotation and adds a new level of precision in treatment setup for SBRT and SRS procedures.
“At least 50 percent of our patients will have a correction in one of these dimensions, and in our program, having a full six degrees of
alignment correction is essential for delivering these treatments safely and accurately,” he said.
Maximizing the efficiency of the treatment session from both a clinical and patient convenience perspective is the distinct benefit of robotic positioning. “The 6D table has provided us with more accurate positioning during patients’ setup, hence more confidence in the precision on delivered treatments,” said Charles Shang, MS, B.MED, D.ABR, director of medical physics at LCI.
“We were particularly pleased with the fact that we were able to fine tune ‘roll, pitch and yaw’ without reentering the room. For some challenging cases, such as intracranial and spinal SRS where
rotations became particularly crucial, this system has demonstrated its unique advantages. “
With over 100 radiation therapy patients now receiving treatment with robotic positioning, the Lynn Cancer Institute is established as one of the most experienced centers in the country in the use of the technology. “We believe our use and experience in robotic
positioning provides us with a material difference in the way a patient is treated. We are more precise, more efficient and safer. This technology has clearly enhanced our capabilities from both a clinical effectiveness and patient satisfaction perspective,” commented Dr. Williams.