The problem can be a matter of life and death to the patient. Until a few years ago, head and neck tumors could not be safely bombarded with radiation without the possibility of damaging organs like the spinal cord or salivary glands. Doctors were forced to keep radiation doses low – too low to be completely effective in eradicating tumors – in order to avoid paralyzing or even killing their patients. Many spinal column tumor treatments ran the same risks. The situation presented doctors with a Hobson’s choice. A tumoricidal radiation does might cure the cancer but seriously harm the patient. On the other hand, lower radiation doses could fail to stop the cancer.
Hospitals needed a machine that combined superior technology with an efficient, reliable process for targeting tumors while sparing normal healthy tissues. The components had to deliver radiation in different modes, including segmental, dynamic, combinations of the two, and ‘conformal arc’ radiation treatment, all on one treatment machine. A computer system had to be able to translate multiple views of a single tumor into three-dimensional anatomical images. Using this image data, a complex radiation therapy treatment plan would be created. From the treatment plan, the computer would create the instructions needed to operate the motion system used to provide treatment.
Hospitals needed a machine that combined superior technology with an efficient, reliable process for targeting tumors while sparing normal healthy tissues. The components had to deliver radiation in different modes, including segmental, dynamic, combinations of the two, and ‘conformal arc’ radiation treatment, all on one treatment machine. A computer system had to be able to translate multiple views of a single tumor into three-dimensional anatomical images. Using this image data, a complex radiation therapy treatment plan would be created. From the treatment plan, the computer would create the instructions needed to operate the motion system used to provide treatment.