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For Release: October 23, 2000
Spy Cameras and Robotics Help Align Patients for More Targeted Radiation Treatments
Spy cameras and robotics artificial vision in the radiation oncology treatment room may be just the answer to the chronic problem in radiation oncology that the patient on the treatment table never stays completely still.
Patients are always making slight movements and that creates a problem targeting the tumor with a precision radiation beam, says Andre Kalend, Ph.D., of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA. The spy cameras and the robotics artificial vision (RAV) have the potential to "anticipate" that motion and align the treatment table and the patient so the patient's tumor is more precisely treated.
Tests are underway and more are planned using RAV developed by Dr. Kalend, Joel Greenberger, M.D., of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Takeo Kanade, Ph.D., of Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Institute in Pittsburgh. The system, the only one of its kind to date, includes eight "eyes" or spy cameras that are mounted on the walls of the treatment room and on the moveable treatment machine. Each eye functions independently, says Dr. Kalend. The "robotics eyes" called CCD Vision lock onto the lasers that are part of the treatment machine and homes in on the patient's natural skin features. If the patient moves so he/she is no longer aligned, the robotics system will make adjustments in the treatment room to "move" the patient back into place.
RAV automates the entire complex treatment beam set-up and alignment, says Dr. Kalend.
This precise way of knowing and even anticipating the patient's movement is essential, says Dr.Kalend, due to the new precise ways of treating patients with 3-D conformal radiation treatment and intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). "We are tightening the area being treated so patient movement --- even the slightest tremor is becoming more of a treatment factor," he says.
Dr. Kalend is waiting Internal Review Board (IRB) approval to begin testing the robotics system during actual treatment. To date, the system has been successfully tested on volunteers - aligning them within one millimeter precision, says Dr. Kalend.
Dr. Kalend's presentation was given on Monday, October 23, 2000 at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology annual meeting.
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