Kevin Reynolds, BS, CMD, Philips Healthcare at AAPM. Photo by Jason Bardi, Manager, Member Society Media Services, American Institute of Physics.
July 29, 2009 - At this year's AAPM annual meeting, Philips Healthcare is focusing on the integrated SmartArc module, available with Pinnacle³ Version 9, designed to provide the tools to create rotational intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) plans using a conventional linear accelerator and a conventional multileaf collimator (MLC).
SmartArc uses principles developed for both intensity-modulated arc therapy (IMAT)1,2 and volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT)1,3. SmartArc is part of the Pinnacle³ treatment planning solution.
The basic promise of VMAT delivery is to significantly reduce treatment time per patient compared with traditional IMRT. VMAT can benefit the patient by offering these shorter treatment times, increasing accuracy and potentially sparing of healthy tissue.
Philips SmartArc advanced treatment planning technology allows single or multiple user definable arcs and supports both constant- and variable- dose rate delivery. Constant dose rate delivery allows clinicians to explore the benefits of VMAT delivery without the expense and downtime associated with an upgrade to their linear accelerator. SmartArc is the first commercially released inverse planning solution designed for both Elekta and Varian linear accelerators. This flexibility allows the clinician the freedom to choose the delivery device that best fits their clinical needs and department configuration.
SmartArc plans are delivered while the gantry rotates around the patient. The intensity of the radiation is modulated and the shape of the beam is dynamically adjusted by moving the MLC leaves. The gantry speed and dose rates may also be changed during the rotation. This provides you with the potential to create plans that are comparable to your standard IMRT plans but with a shorter treatment time.
References:
1. Bzdusek et al., Development and Evaluation of an Efficient Approach to Volumetric Arc Therapy Planning, Medical Physics 36 (6), pp. 2328-2339, 2009.
2. Yu CX. Intensity-modulated arc therapy with dynamic multileaf collimation: An alternative to tomotherapy. Phys Med Biol. 1995; 40; 1435-1449.
3. Otto K. Volumetric modulated arc therapy: IMRT in a single gantry arc. Med Phys 2008;35;310-317.
For more information: www.healthcare.philips.com
April 18, 2024 
