The need of a TPS for IOeRT comes from the intrinsic impossibility of exploiting the pre-operative diagnostic imaging (such as patient CT) to simulate dose delivery.
Actual dose delivery is performed immediately after tumour removal, that is to say, after a substantial morphological modification of the target tissue.
The lack of an accurate IOeRT dedicated Treatment Planning System based on reliable intra-operative imaging was certainly one of the limits of IOeRT compared to standard radiation therapy.
Furthermore, in the current IOeRT clinical practice, the target to be treated is identified visually by the oncological surgeon, radiation therapist and physicist without any specific real-time diagnostic imaging and planning.
SIT has proposed a smart and attractive digital solution to upgrade IOeRT clinical practice, the IORT ECHO TPS. The system is based on optical tracking and navigation; it allows the selction of the area of interest, 3D real-time imaging acquisition (Echo or CT), 3D contouring and 3D planning, 3D dose calculation and DVH evaluation, Image-guided docking, DVH re-evaluation for TPS validation and treatment execution.
IORT ECHO TPS is more than a standard TPS!
IORT ECHO TPS provides additional features and functions compared to a standard RT TPS:
Imaging, planning and treatment are performed during the same session. Precision and accuracy are thus greatly enhanced.