Calypso® 4D Localization System

Calypso Medical, a Seattle, WA company, is reporting that its advanced system for “guiding radiation therapy delivery with continuous, objective, organ-motion sub-millimeter tracking accuracy” has been used for the first time in a commercial clinical setting at Seattle’s Swedish Cancer Institute.
The company explains its system:

The Calypso® 4D Localization System is an innovative target localization platform based on detection of AC electromagnetic markers, called Beacon® Electromagnetic Transponders. The Beacon® Electromagnetic Transponders, which are smaller than a grain of rice, are implanted in or near the treatment site. When coupled with the Calypso® 4D Localization System, Beacon® Electromagnetic Transponders send signals that generate objective location instructions to the radiation therapist to register the patient’s treatment target to isocenter prior to treatment.
The Calypso® System is the world’s first objective, non-ionizing approach for accurate and continuous target localization for treatment setup and monitoring during radiation therapy delivery — a capability that, until now, has not been possible.
As a result, when the product is available for use, it is expected to be dramatically simpler to locate the true treatment target and — for the first time — to objectively and efficiently manage patient alignment continuously without extra non-therapeutic x-ray dose.
A misalignment of the treatment target can be detected by Calypso® Medical’s proprietary algorithm that identifies sub-millimeter shifts of the target from its prescribed location anytime throughout the treatment. Through an intuitive graphical user interface, the Calypso® 4D Localization System is programmed to exhibit real-time graphs instantaneously highlighting shifts in position that exceed a pre-determined threshold.

Press release…
Product page…
(hat tip: Technology, Health & Development)