Two CT systems dedicated for radiation therapy planning
With Somatom go.Sim and Somatom go.Open Pro, Siemens Healthineers introduces two computed tomography (CT) systems specifically designed to facilitate planning procedures for radiation therapy and provide better images to help calculate radiation plans. The CT images enable radiation oncologists to identify the target tumour. More precise planning means the tumour can be treated with improved accuracy, while providing better protection for surrounding tissue and organs-at-risk. Designed to accommodate patient positioning accessories and increase patient comfort, the 64-slice Somatom go.Sim and the 128-slice Somatom go. Open Pro have an extra-large 85 cm bore. Both systems also feature optional Siemens Healthineers-manufactured patient marking lasers known as Direct Laser. The laser is used to mark the patient’s position for treatment in the CT, which will make subsequent positioning in the linear accelerator both faster and more accurate. Direct Laser are mounted directly onto the gantry and controlled via a mobile tablet. The new GO with Green mobile workflow brings ease of use and walks the radiation therapist through each step of the patient setup process, enabling the therapist to remain at the patient’s side, potentially improving communication and comfort as well as reducing anxiety.
The Somatom go. Sim and Somatom go.Open Pro also feature DirectORGANS for OAR (Organs at Risk) contouring. This software automatically addresses the dependency between image quality and the consistency of autocontouring results. DirectORGANS uses a specialized image reconstruction, optimizing the CT images for autocontouring and applying a deep learning-trained contouring algorithm. DirectORGANS may reduce unwarranted variations with high-quality contours that approach the level of consensus-based contours.
Unique to the Somatom go.Open Pro CT system is the Direct Intelligent 4D (Direct i4D) technology, which adapts the image acquisition to a patient’s breathing in real time during the scan. Direct i4D is designed to help optimize image quality for each patient, reducing artifacts that are common to 4D image sets and often prompt rescans. In this manner, Direct i4D images can help customers treat more patients with techniques such as stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) that require a high degree of precision to avoid damaging healthy tissue. The SOMATOM go.Sim and SOMATOM go.Open Pro are pending 510(k) clearance, and are not yet commercially available in the United States.
