Tampa, Fla. - Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) has announced that a gynecological patient at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla. became the first patient in the United States to receive radiation therapy planned with Philips' Pinnacle3 SmartArc technology. SmartArc technology provides advanced tools for volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) treatment planning, an advanced form of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) in which a precise radiation dose is delivered in single or multiple arcs around the patient. VMAT benefits the patient by: significantly reducing treatment time, compared with traditional IMRT; increasing accuracy; and potentially sparing healthy tissue.

Clinicians at Moffitt utilized the SmartArc module to plan the VMAT treatment, which was delivered by a Trilogy® linear accelerator from Varian Medical Systems and the MOSAIQTM image-enabled oncology information system from Elekta Impac Software. The SmartArc module is available with Philips' Pinnacle3 version 9 radiation treatment planning software.

"The application of Philips' SmartArc planning technology to VMAT provides a significant advantage to current IMRT treatments, in terms of target coverage and normal tissue sparing," said Craig W. Stevens, M.D., Ph.D., chair, Department of Radiation Oncology at Moffitt. "Shortened treatment times will be more comfortable for the patient and also much more accurate by reducing intra-fraction patient/tumor motion. SmartArc will enable us to improve patient care and comfort, while increasing patient throughput."
Dr. Stevens noted that Moffitt's radiation oncology team will soon expand the use of SmartArc in planning treatment for other disease sites such as prostate, head and neck, lung and brain.

Commissioning of Philips' SmartArc technology was performed by Vladimir Feygelman, Ph.D., faculty physicist at Moffitt, who stated, "We were really pleased with the accuracy of the calculation, the ease of commissioning and planning, and the flexibility of the software allowing it to be implemented in our multi-vendor environment."

"Philips' SmartArc integrates seamlessly into radiation therapy departments since it is the only planning solution designed to work with linear accelerators, as well as record and verify systems, from all major manufacturers," said Sue Wallace, Ph.D., general manager, Philips Radiation Oncology Systems. "This flexibility enables our world-class partners, such as Moffitt, to provide the best treatment options for their patients."

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