Press Releases
ExacTrac Advanced Image-guided Radiation Therapy
07/20/2009
ExacTrac
ExacTrac is an Advanced Image-Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT) for highly precise tumor treatment.
Patient Benefits
With ExacTrac IGRT from BrainLAB, Texas Oncology-Longview Cancer Center offers patients:
- Precise treatment, minimizing radiation damage to normal tissue
- Treatment delivery in the shortest possible timeframe
- Treatment that adapts to minor movements, minimizing potential treatment errors
- Painless treatment performed on an out-patient basis
The Technology
ExacTrac IGRT enables physicians to pinpoint tumors with greater accuracy for more precise treatment and better patient outcomes. Traditionally, small shifts in patient movement or radiation beam alignment could result in damage to healthy tissue surrounding the tumor. BrainLAB IGRT technology uses high-resolution X-rays to pinpoint tumors seconds before treatment, automatically correcting any patient set-up errors and tracking patient movement throughout the procedure. With this improved precision, ExacTrac enables doctors to deliver higher treatment doses within one millimeter of the tumor, protecting healthy tissue and improving long-term clinical results.
Oncologists are now able to treat a wider range of indications using ExacTrac, including prostate, lung, liver, spine and brain.
The Treatment
Image-Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT) is radiation treatment that uses advanced imaging technologies to direct radiation dose delivery to a tumor. Tumor motion including respiration-induced and other random-patient movement often prevents targeted, optimum dose delivery.
ExacTrac from BrainLAB offers clinicians advanced imaging technology to verify patient and tumor position at the time of treatment. Knowing exactly where the tumor is allows clinicians to reduce the amount of tissue irradiated, targeting only the tumor and sparing the surrounding normal tissue. Irradiating less normal tissue reduces the toxicity of radiotherapy, improves the patient’s quality of life, and may make it possible to deliver higher radiation doses to the tumor in fewer treatment sessions.
Radiation therapy is a primary form of cancer treatment. Many cancer patients will require radiation therapy during some phase of their cancer care. A treatment team comprised of a radiation oncologist, registered radiation therapists, oncology nurses, a medical physicist and a dosimetrist work together to ensure the most effective treatment for each patient.