At the June E. Nylen Cancer Center and the Aalfs Family Foundation Radiation Oncology Department, we take extra precautions to make sure that every patient receives minimal radiation exposure during treatment. We use AlignRT®, the premier radiation therapy guidance system, for Surface Guided Radiation Therapy (SGRT) with two state-of-the-art TrueBeam™ linear accelerator treatment machines. This system, from Vision RT, has been shown to reduce radiation exposure to healthy tissue.

AlignRT tracks your body surface in real-time, detects any motion as you hold your breath with sub-millimeter accuracy, and pinpoints your radiation treatment to the specific cancer area, dramatically lessening unwanted radiation exposure to any healthy tissue and reducing the risk of side effects. While used head-to-toe and for all radiation treatment, a valuable example of the benefit of AlignRT to ensure optimal patient positioning and radiation accuracy is protecting your heart while you’re treated for left-breast cancer.

When treating left-breast cancer AlignRT can help us make sure your heart is in the right place. For some patients, we utilize a technique called Deep Inspiration Breath Hold (DIBH) to move the heart away from the breast during therapy. This is challenging because patients breathe in different ways at various times, and may move their body like arching their back during a deep breath in. AlignRT uses a 3D camera system to help position you accurately before radiation therapy and then to track your body surface in real-time through the DIBH, ensuring you keep in the proper position during treatment. Using your external skin surface, the technology monitors your movement and knows exactly where you are at any moment to within a fraction of a millimeter.

Another benefit of the AlignRT guidance system being used during radiation therapy at the June E. Nylen Cancer Center is that it can eliminate the need for tattoos and skin marks for many patients. The technology projects a random series of patterns on your skin, acting like thousands of virtual tattoos. These images are input into a software program that monitors your positioning with sub-millimeter accuracy and ensures you are treated in the correct position. AlignRT has been shown in several studies to be at least as accurate as either marks or tattoos for positioning patients before treatment therapy. Many patients are happy and relieved to not have a permanent reminder of their diagnosis and treatment. Not all radiation treatment centers can offer tattoo/mark-free radiation.

For more information about the AlignRT radiation therapy guidance system talk to our oncology team or click here.