Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT)
Intensity
Modulated Radiotherapy, also known as IMRT allows very precise external beam
radiotherapy treatments. A powerful computer program determines a treatment
plan based on a physician's dose instructions, and information about tumor
size, shape and location in the body. A medical linear accelerator, equipped
with a special device called a multileaf collimator that shapes the
radiation beam, delivers the radiation in accordance with the treatment
plan. Rather than having a single large radiation beam pass through the
body, with IMRT the radiation is divided into thousands of tiny
pencil-thin radiation beams. With precision accuracy, these beams enter the
body from many angles and intersect on the cancer. This results in a higher
dose to the tumor and a lower dose to the surrounding healthy tissues.
Our Siemen's Intensity Modulation Radiotherapy
system assists
radiation oncologists in treating tumors to a higher dose, retreating
cancers which have previously been irradiated, and safely treat tumors which
are located very close to delicate organs like the eye or spinal cord. IMRT
can translate into a higher cancer control rate and a lower rate of side
effects. IMRT is the most technologically advanced treatment method
available in external beam radiation therapy.
