Siemens Healthcare will be presenting a new software solution for radiation therapy syngo.via RT Image Suite at the third forum of the European Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ESTRO) in Barcelona.

The solution has been specially developed to make it easier for radiation oncologists to evaluate a range of clinical images such as MRI, CT, PET-CT, and cone beam CT images, and to subsequently contour tumors and the surrounding organs to be spared. This means that the available image data, independent of the modality, can be used more effectively to define the optimal patient-specific radiation therapy strategy.

Today, existing software such as virtual simulation or treatment planning solutions are only partly able to accommodate the increasing number and diversity of images. Often, only two image series can be displayed at the same time – far too few if the clinician is looking to have a comprehensive view of the clinical situation using several different MRI contrasts, CT and PET images, and 3D and 4D views with the aim of deciding on the best-possible treatment approach.
 
This is different with the new syngo.via RT Image Suite. Based on syngo.via, Siemens’ comprehensive image viewing and processing software solution, syngo.via RT Image Suite has been specifically developed to accommodate the increasing number and diversity of images used in radiation oncology: Up to eight fused image series can be displayed on up to four image panels at the same time. Dual Energy CT images, different PET tracers, and different MRI image contrasts – which are particularly helpful when diagnosing prostate cancer, for example – can be visualized at the same time, as can all image data for moving tumors, for example in the liver or lungs. Syngo.via RT Image Suite therefore offers radiation oncologists a detailed basis for deciding on the therapy approach, evaluating courses of treatment, and possibly adapting the treatment.
 
A well-founded assessment of clinical situation is just the first step on the path to more precise radiation therapy. The subsequent, exact contouring of the tumor plays just as important. Here, too, the syngo.via RT Image Suite helps by making it easier and quicker to contour the tumor tissue and neighboring organs, for example, via the automatic, parallel contouring of marked areas in several image series. Tumors can be quickly contoured, even in moving 4D CT datasets for the lungs. And if an adaption of therapy is required during the course of treatment, the software application supports fast re-contouring of the tumor boundaries.
 
Clinical images contoured using syngo.via RT Image Suite can then be transferred to treatment planning systems such as Eclipse from Varian Medical Systems – Siemens Healthcare’s strategic partner in radiation therapy – for dosimetric planning. Particularly in curative approaches – which is increasingly the case in breast or prostate cancer patients, both constituting a large proportion of oncological diseases – precise radiation dose planning is extremely important to avoid side effects in neighboring organs, which are potentially at risk.
 
Syngo.via RT Image Suite is available with new imaging systems and also as an upgrade for installed Siemens Healthcare systems. In addition to clinical images from the various Siemens imaging modalities, diagnostic images from other manufacturers can also be viewed and processed.