Surface guided radiotherapy

Surface guided radiotherapy is a tattoo-free radiotherapy alternative that uses advanced camera technology to facilitate 3D tracking of the skin’s surface during set-up and treatment.

What is surface guided radiotherapy?

Surface Guided Radiotherapy (SGRT) is a tattoo-free alternative for patients who require radiotherapy.

Traditional radiotherapy requires patients to receive very small but permanent tattoos on their skin around the treatment site. These tattoos help to position the patient correctly and deliver treatment to the right location. SGRT uses advanced camera technology to track and monitor patients during set-up and treatment, eliminating the need for permanent tattooing or other temporary markings on the skin.

This technique also provides thousands of reference points on a patient’s skin, allowing us to precisely track movements in real-time during treatment. This ensures radiation is delivered safely and to sub-millimetre accuracy. Safety is further enhanced by the system’s auto-pause feature, which automatically pauses treatment if a patient moves outside of a safe position during treatment.

SGRT treatment sessions are typically shorter than traditional radiotherapy sessions, as the set-up process can be completed more quickly.

IDENTIFY™

The Varian IDENTIFY™ Surface Guidance System marks a new standard in radiotherapy and features cutting-edge technology. Through the use of advanced optical surface tracking and real time motion management, the patient’s position during treatment is continuously monitored while simultaneously tracking the patient’s natural breathing movements.

This real time technology not only increases accuracy and reduces patient treatment times but also eliminates the need to have permanent tattoos – which some patients find is an unwelcome daily reminder of their cancer.

VIDEO | Learn how IDENTIFY™ radiation therapy works

Breast cancer

Traditional radiation therapy for breast cancer requires patients to receive very small but permanent tattoos on their chest. These tattoos help the radiation therapist position the patient correctly and deliver treatment to the right location. For some patients, these tattoos are ongoing, unwanted reminders of their cancer treatment.

SGRT uses advanced camera technology to track and monitor patients during set-up and treatment, removing the need for patients to receive permanent tattoos or other temporary markings on the skin. The platform’s auto-pause functionality and high degree of accuracy also support the safe delivery of advanced radiation therapy techniques for breast cancer patients, including Deep Inspiration Breath Hold (DIBH).

SGRT is suitable for all patients undergoing radiation therapy for breast cancer.