by
John R. Fischer, Senior Reporter | April 07, 2023
Halcyon System (photo courtesy of Varian)
Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah, in Salt Lake City, has become the first site in the world to install Varian’s HyperSight imaging technology on a Halcyon radiotherapy system, making it capable of producing higher quality images from cone beam CT scans to calculate dose and adjust radiation plans for safer treatment in real time .
The Halcyon platform, which was
cleared in 2017 and
again with HyperSight in February 2023, is an image-guided volumetric intensity modulated radiotherapy system that adjusts the radiation beam as it targets tumors.
“The Hounsfield units are more accurately portrayed on the HyperSight system, which allows us to use these onboard images to recalculate the dose the patient is receiving from a radiation plan or even completely redo the radiation plan without having to obtain a separate planning CT for many cases,” Dr. Shane Lloyd, radiation oncologist at Huntsman Cancer Institute and associate professor of radiation oncology at the University of Utah, told HCB News.
HyperSight also enables the Halcyon to produce larger images with better contrast, and is 10 times faster than conventional linac imaging systems. Varian, a Siemens Healthineers company, says it enhances treatment planning for cancer in areas where there is not a lot of motion, like the head and neck or pelvis, or when there is not a lot of air in the field.
Since installing the system at Huntsman Cancer Institute, researchers there have been able to recalculate dose to verify that a change in patient anatomy did not significantly affect the dose applied to various organs, says Lloyd. “The faster time on the table increases patient comfort and satisfaction,” he said.
HyperSight is also available on the Ethos radiotherapy system, which was
cleared in 2020 and uses AI to adapt treatment based on changes in patient anatomy and tumor shape and position in real time, and reduces time involved to 15 minutes.
Health Canada recently gained Investigational Authorization for a clinical study at Nova Scotia Health, which is the first site in the world to capture HyperSight images of human trial participants on an Ethos system. The study will evaluate the ability to accurately calculate radiation dose distributions directly from HyperSight CBCT images.
