Medgadget reader Vlad tips us to a report on CBC News about a new imaging modality of prostate, coming from O’Canada. The 3D imaging system is designed to pinpoint the exact location of prostate just prior to radiation treatment. The system is manufactured by Resonant Medical of Montreal. From the article:
Developed in Montreal, the 3D imaging system merges CT scans and ultrasounds to help oncologists gain a better idea of where to target radiation.
“It enables us to see where the prostate is in three dimensions when the patient comes for planning, and then pinpoint it again when the patient comes for treatment,” said Dr. Gerard Morton, a radiation oncologist at Sunnybrook and Women’s College Health Sciences in Toronto.
The prostate moves from one day to the next while patients are treated with radiation therapy. Traditional methods of targeting the prostate don’t account for these movements and changes in shape and volume, so healthy tissue may be overtreated and some cancer may be missed, Morton said.
If the radiation is off slightly over time, it can cause damage to surrounding tissues and blood vessels, leading to side-effects such as rectal bleeding and impotence.
To see the video of the system in action, go to the article at CBC News…
Resonant Medical website…