Andover, Mass. -- Philips Medical Systems has announced that Barnes-Jewish Hospital at Washington University Medical Center in St. Louis, named one of America's best hospitals for the past 12 years by U.S. News & World Report, has selected Philips AcQSim3 and Pinnacle3 systems to improve cancer treatment planning and accurately target tumors. The newly added systems will not only improve cancer care for patients at Barnes-Jewish, but also facilitate clinical research efforts at the School of Medicine.

"Washington University has been committed to developing state-of-the art treatment planning protocols, including the development and verification of advanced dose calculation algorithms, novel treatment methods, and ground-breaking simulation protocols," said Daniel Low, Ph.D., director of the Division of Medical Physics at Washington University School of Medicine. "We are excited about the prospect of continuing the development of IMRT and IGRT capabilities."

The installation of the Pinnacle3 system

provides the Siteman Cancer Center with leading radiation therapy planning technology that accurately delivers radiation to tumors and avoids irradiating healthy tissue. The addition of the AcQSim3 workstation, which integrates leading CT Simulation tools into the Pinnacle3 treatment planning system, eliminates the need for network transfers facilitating seamless workflow. AcQSim3 is the only commercially available CT Simulation system with absolute marking (exclusive with select Philips scanners). Absolute marking allows clinicians to more precisely mark the exact coordinates of a tumor, which improves accuracy and saves time. "We are extremely pleased that Washington University Medical Center has expanded the use of our technologies," said Keith Tipton, general manager, oncology systems, for Philips Medical Systems. "The addition of Philips treatment planning systems at a leading hospital such as Barnes-Jewish reflects the value the facility places on this technology and on the longstanding relationship with Philips Medical Systems."

Philips has been a partner of Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine for more than a decade with a portfolio of oncology solutions featured at this site, including the Big Bore CT. The collaboration between Philips and Washington University School of Medicine began when Philips started working with the hospital to develop and test the most effective oncology imaging methodologies, including AcQSim VoxelQ and the AcQSim single-slice Big Bore scanner. Washington University was the first oncology beta test site for the Brilliance Big Bore and is an early user and clinical collaborator on several Philips technologies.

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