Integration is key when it comes to enhancing radiation oncology practices. In fact, combining Surface Guided Radiation Therapy (SGRT) with SDX respiratory gating can provide a more robust and advanced approach to radiation therapy. This combination offers numerous benefits for both treatment accuracy and patient experience.

Benefits of Integration

From enhanced precision and accuracy to improved adaptability and treatment safety, here’s how integrating these two technologies can enhance radiation oncology practices:

Enhanced Precision and Accuracy

• Complementary Techniques: SGRT provides precise real-time surface tracking, ensuring the patient’s position and body motion are closely monitored. SDX ensures reproducibility of the tumor’s position inside the body. When combined with SDX, which controls radiation delivery based on the respiratory cycle, the integration ensures that radiation is delivered with the highest accuracy. This minimizes exposure to surrounding healthy tissues.
• Reduction in Geometric Uncertainty: Using both SGRT and SDX can compensate for both involuntary patient movement and physiological internal motions, thereby reducing geometric uncertainties during radiation delivery. This is crucial for tumors located near critical structures or in areas prone to movement.

Improved Adaptability to Patient Variability

• Flexible Treatment Options: Different patients present varying challenges, such as difficulties with breath-hold or irregular breathing patterns. Combining SGRT and SDX allows clinicians to tailor the approach based on individual needs, providing flexibility in managing a wide range of patients efficiently.
• Dynamic Adjustment: The combination allows for dynamic adjustment during treatment. SGRT can adjust for position and motion, while SDX can adjust the delivery of radiation to the phase of the breathing cycle. This ensures that changes in patient position or respiratory pattern do not compromise treatment integrity.

Enhanced Treatment Safety

• Decreased Safety Margins: By combining these technologies, clinicians can potentially reduce the margins typically added for movement uncertainties. Smaller margins reduce the volume of healthy tissue exposed to radiation, thereby potentially reducing side effects and improving patient outcomes.
• Real-Time Monitoring and Correction: The real-time monitoring capabilities of SGRT, together with the respiratory phase-specific delivery of SDX, enhance the ability to make immediate corrections during therapy. This continuous adjustment maximizes the dose to the tumor while protecting normal tissue.

Streamlined Workflow and Efficiency

• Efficient Treatment Sessions: Although each system adds a layer of complexity, their integration can lead to more streamlined and efficient treatment sessions over time. This is because the combined systems can quickly adapt to changes, reducing the need for manual repositioning and repeated imaging.
• Improved Throughput: Facilities can improve throughput by reducing the time needed for setup and adjustments during individual treatment sessions. This efficiency can lead to increased patient satisfaction and reduced clinic congestion.

Patient Experience and Compliance

• Reduced Burden on Patients: Combining SGRT with SDX minimizes the physical and emotional strain on patients since the systems work together to reduce the need for patient intervention during treatment (like holding breath). This can be particularly beneficial for patients with limited tolerance for long treatment sessions or discomfort.
• Enhanced Confidence: Patients may feel more confident in their treatment knowing that their therapy utilizes advanced technologies tailored to maximize effectiveness while prioritizing safety and comfort.

By leveraging the strengths of both SGRT and SDX, clinics can offer cutting-edge, personalized radiation therapy that addresses the unique challenges of each patient’s condition, enhancing treatment outcomes and operational efficiency. Combining these technologies represents a commitment to utilizing the best available methods to enhance care and patient outcomes in radiation therapy.

Contact SDX

SDX^® System, trusted by specialists worldwide, integrates seamlessly with existing radiation therapy protocols to reach a new standard of care. Contact us at (833) 739-3967 in North Miami Beach, FL, or fill out our online form for more information.