by
Loren Bonner, DOTmed News Online Editor | October 10, 2012
From the October 2012 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
“Anything that can be done to make this tedious work faster and less error prone, or less variable, would be good,” says Abhi Chakrabarti, director of global marketing for radiation oncology at Philips Healthcare.
Philips has a software module called Auto Segmentation with SPICE (Smart Probabilistic Image Contouring Engine) in its Pinnacle 3 radiation treatment planning system, which can automate a lot of contouring, according to Chakrabarti.
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“It’s both about speed and about consistency,” he says.
While the computer model of the machine stays the same, what tends to change is the patient. If a patient’s treatment lasts weeks, it’s likely that the initial treatment plan no longer reflects reality because the patient may lose weight and the tumor will likely shrink. Naturally, a retreatment plan is drawn. Chakrabarti says a large hospital he spoke with recently told him that they pencil in three days to draw up a new treatment plan for a patient. Not only do they have to schedule time for a CT scanner, they also have to re-contour everything. But Chakrabarti says facilities don’t necessarily have to spend the time and resources on this anymore.
“We have automated the entire process [at least the stuff that is manual] and we think we’re going to transform something that takes days into hours,” he says.
Although speed is important, Huntzinger says it shouldn’t be emphasized too heavily in a clinical environment. What’s paramount is efficiency.
Philips Pinnacle
Dynamic Planning
“Efficiency of treatment will be another key enabler of getting radio surgery done in a normal time frame,” he says. Chakrabarti says Philips will continue to work on making sure automation is as reliable as possible “so you don’t have to second-guess it.”
As advancements in radiation therapy treatment and planning continue to expand rapidly, patient safety will become even more important for OEMs.
“As the technology advances, clinical quality assurance is aided more by equipment and software. But the rule of the people does not diminish,” says Stephen Vastagh, director of radiation therapy at the Medical Imaging and Technology Alliance (MITA). “Technology cannot replace people and people should not expect machines to do everything.”
