Respiratory Gating

ROA stepped into the newest dimension of high technology in 2009 by adding Respiratory Gated Radiation Therapy to the services provided in our treatment centers. Respiratory gating enables the physician to plan the patient’s treatment in four dimensions by acquiring 4D Computer Tomography (CT) images while the patient is “coached on breathing”. The patient’s tumor movement during the breathing process is captured via the CT images and sent to the treatment planning system. This advanced imaging technique enables the physician along with his or her trained physicist and dosimetrists to create a treatment plan which is synchronized with the patient’s breathing cycle. During treatment the machine tracks the breathing cycle of the patient and delivers the radiation dose to the patient only when the tumor is in the treatment field. When the tumor moves out of the treatment field the machine stops and waits until it is back in the target range. This state of the art form of radiation treatment delivery has enabled physicians to plan the highest dose of radiation to the tumor and less radiation effects to normal tissue.