Englewood Health Delivers Targeted Precision in Radiation Therapy Englewood Health is delivering greater precision in radiation oncology us- ing its expertise in surface guided radiotherapy (SGRT), enabled by the newest VisionRT AlignRT® system. SGRT enables the treatment team to detect and track a patient’s 3D sur- face (skin) in real time to ensure accurate positioning and continuous pat- ent monitoring throughout treatment. Continuous tracking of the patient is used to ensure that radiation is delivered accurately and can account for all patient motion, including normal breathing. This is especially beneficial, for example, for breast cancer patients. According to Violet Merle McIntosh, MD, chief of breast surgery, Englewood Health’s breast cancer teams have shortened the course of radiation therapy for many breast cancer patients. VisionRT’s AlignRT technology is an application for SGRT that uses ste - reoscopic vision to continuously monitor a patient’s skin surface, tracking thousands of points in real-time to refine positioning throughout radiation treatment. For patients, this innovative advancement also eliminates the need for permanent tattoos placed on patient’s body as guideposts for radiation delivery. For advanced gynecologic cancers, Nimesh Nagarsheth, MD, director of gynecologic oncology and robotic surgery, notes that metastatic cervi- cal and uterine cancers, which sit close to the bladder and rectum, can be treated with greater precision and higher intensity, allowing for shorter treatments because of this advanced technology, while reducing injury to surrounding structures. Englewood Health’s level of expertise in performing SGRT using Vision - RT’s AlignRT has earned national recognition. In 2021, Englewood Health’s radiation oncology team was selected to present its clinical expertise on the use of SGRT for Deep-Inspiration Breath Hold to the National SGRT Conference. Radiation and Surgical Oncologists Join Forces to Optimize Outcomes Englewood Health is at the forefront of pioneering advancements that enable more adaptable treatment plans in radiation oncology. Now with the addition of MIM Maestro software, radiation oncologists can directly incorporate all rel- evant medical imaging into the treatment process, enabling them to monitor and refine the delivery technique throughout a patient’s course of treatment. At Englewood Health, patients benefit from multispecialty disease-specif- ic teams that work harmoniously to assure optimal outcomes. Using this
advanced technology, our teams are minimizing risks for side effects of radiation therapy, such as incontinence and impotence, for the primary or secondary treatment of prostate cancer says Maz Ganat, MD, chief of urol- ogy and program director for Urologic Oncology. MIM Maestro’s deformable registration aligns two or more three-dimen- sional (3D) images into one unified frame. By merging images, radiation oncologists gain the ability to monitor subtle changes in organ shape, size, and position throughout the course of treatment. “Traditionally, radiation oncology relied on a single plan for the entire course of treatment, tailored to each patient’s unique condition at the time of di- agnosis,” says Michael Speiser, Ph.D., chief physicist at Englewood Health. “However, throughout the treatment journey, things change, such as a pa - tient’s weight or a reduction in the tumor volume.” Today, even for complex plans, physicians and physicists can efficiently access and evaluate data and harness that information to generate new plans based on current information, instead of relying on an established single plan for the entire treatment course.
David Dubin, MD, chief of radiation oncology and Michael Speiser, Ph.D., chief physicist
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