The Department of Radiotherapy and Radiation Oncology at the University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus in Dresden uses real-time monitoring during radiotherapy delivery. The Integral Quality Monitor (IQM) System from iRT Systems GmbH in Koblenz, Germany, allows for real-time monitoring of treatment accuracy as well as for efficient quality assurance.
“With this system, additional time-consuming measurements for patient-specific quality assurance become superfluous in many cases,”
Prof. Christian Richter, Head of Medical Radiation Physics, explains.
The IQM System is the world’s first system to verify the photon beam during patient treatment. It also allows for treatment interruption in case of unexpected deviations.
“With this system, we can precisely monitor the delivery of the radiation dose, and thus, further increase the safety for our patients,”
Prof. Esther Troost, Chair of Department of Radiotherapy and Radiation Oncology in Dresden, adds.
“The IQM System was developed in close cooperation with some of the world’s leading radiation therapy departments,” says Jürgen Oellig, Managing Director of iRT Systems. “We are proud that the University Hospital Dresden, one of the leading German radiation therapy departments, is using our system and look forward to a long-term cooperation.”
With the IQM System, modern radiation therapy methods can be applied safely and monitored precisely. Over the last two years, IQM has already been integrated into two new linear accelerator systems and there are two more to come. Automated quality control provided by the IQM System replaces complex and time-consuming conventional verification methods.
“This means that more patients can be treated in the same amount of time.”
“This enables us to treat more patients with state-of-the-art radiation therapy as well as to constantly improve our portfolio of safety measures.” Stefan Pieck, Administrative Director coordinating the installations together with Prof. Troost, explains.
“The University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus is very happy to have strong partners at its side. This network makes it possible to improve and further modernize patient care. This example from our radiotherapy department is an excellent showcase of what we can achieve together – for the benefit of our patients“, commented Prof. Michael Albrecht, Medical Director of the University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus in Dresden.
Given the numerous advantages that the new generation of radiation treatment systems offer, the department will be able to provide more stereotactic radiation treatments that are both highly effective as well as well tolerated by patients.
“In stereotactic treatments, photon beams hit the tumor from different angles with great precision,” says Prof. Mechthild Krause, who heads the department together with Prof. Troost.
The University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus applies photon and proton therapy to around 200 patients each day.
Automatic quality control with IQM is already in use for half of the photon-treated patients.
Press Release – University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus in Dresden, Germany – 11. March 2022