A cancer treatment centre in Munich has combined a robot with an image guidance system to treat tumours without the need for an operation.
The solution integrates by radiation therapy firm Accuray’s virtual CyberKnife system with a high-precision Kuka robot for image-guided irradiation to treat tumours anywhere in the body.
According to developers, it can autonomously treat tumours that currently require a six-hour surgery to remove, saving patients from spending at least a week in hospital and eight weeks of rehabilitation.
In fact, the solution is said to enable patients to return to work the next day.
Dr Alexander Muacevic, radiosurgeon and neurosurgeon at the CyberKnife Centre Munich, said: “With this system, we perform radiosurgery – a treatment that applies radiation with the utmost precision.
“Thanks to the integration of an image guidance system with robotic technology, we achieve accuracy of less than a millimetre.”
Initially, image data is generated from computer and magnetic resonance tomography and then loaded onto the system.
A doctor then instructs a medical physicist what dosage to use for irradiation of the tumour. A treatment plan is created and transferred to the software.
This enables treatment to be completed automatically, which is where the robot comes in.
Maucevic explained: “I always compare it with a pilot in the cockpit who also switches very quickly to autopilot. For us physicians, the main job is now already done; we merely monitor the patient jointly with the medical technicians.
“The actual work is carried out by the CyberKnife system autonomously – with a degree of precision that no surgeon could match. Achieving accuracy of 0.5 millimetres manually is almost impossible.”
