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Johns Hopkins TomoTherapy
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The Department of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences at
Johns Hopkins
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is proud to incorporate the new
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TomoTherapy HI-ART Cancer Treatment System
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into our state-of-the-art repertoire of cancer treatment technologies.
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TomoTherapy is a new way of delivering radiation treatment for cancer and literally means "slice therapy". The TomoTherapy HI-ART System can deliver small beamlets of radiation from every point on a spiral which provides for exceptional accuracy.
The more angles that a radiation treatment beam can be delivered from, the better the focus on the tumor and the less effect on surrounding tissue.
What makes TomoTherapy truly revolutionary, however, is the ability to create a computed tomography (CT) image just prior to radiation treatment. This means that we can now view a full three-dimensional image of a patient's anatomy and adjust the size, shape and intensity of the radiation beam to the precise location of the patient's tumor. |
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Through TomoTherapy, a 3-D representation of the body can be viewed immediately before treatment. This means radiation is delivered with superior precision, reduced radiation to surrounding healthy tissue, and reduced treatment time for the patient. Now that treatment can be adjusted over time to more accurately treat tumors, we are able to make adjustments "on-the-fly". This approach is called Adaptive Therapy. |
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The TomoTherapy HI-ART System was designed to advance the goals of precise treatment while reducing complexity. TomoTherapy combines Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) with a helical delivery. IMRT is a treatment modality that uses angles and radiation beam shapes to treat tumors. Radiation therapy uses high energy X-rays to damage the DNA in cancer cells. As X-rays go through the body the radiation is absorbed. The patient is capable of handling radiation in small doses. |
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The ability to move the treatment beam and change it's shape means that the level of radiation
("intensity") can be adjusted ("modulated") so that the beam will not effect the part of the body it is passing through very much, while building up the radiation in the tumor. The shape of the radiation beam is adjusted using a Multi-leaf Collimator (MLC), which looks almost like a zipper. As the leaves open and close, the radiation beam is either on or off.
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A helical delivery means that the treatment system is like a spiral. In actuality the mechanism that creates the radiation beam, called the Linear Accelerator, is moving in a circular fashion, meanwhile, the patient is moving in and out of the opening of the TomoTherapy unit. This creates a very dynamic, continuous treatment system. Treatments are planned and delivered as a SinoGram, like a sine wave, with the MLC configuration as a function of the angle of treatment. |
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Courtesy of TomoTherapy,Inc. |
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Some immediate cancer treatment applications of the TomoTherapy HI-ART System include prostate, head and neck, and childhood malignancies. We are also very excited to be a part of a formal collaboration between Johns Hopkins and TomoTherapy Inc. to advance the application of this new technology. Through translational projects we can solve clinical problems using regular approaches to create new solutions to complex issues. |
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The TomoTherapy Team |
Attending Physicians and Specialties : |
Dr. Theodore L. DeWeese, M.D. (Department Chair) - Prostate |
Dr. Danny Y. Song, M.D. - Assistant Professor, Prostate |
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Dr. Moody D.Wharam, M.D. - Professor, Pediatrics, CNS tumors, and radiosurgery.
Dr. Wharam's research interests are in cooperative group clinical trials in pediatric solid tumors, particularly rhabdomyosarcoma and osteosarcoma, and in pediatric brain tumors, in particular intracranial germinoma. |
Dr. Gopal Bajaj, M.D. |
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Physicists: |
Dr. John W. Wong, Ph.D. - Professor, Director of Medical Physics |
Dr. Nicholas A. Detorie, Ph.D. - Dr. Detorie's research interests include (1) planning and treatment with Dynamic Arcs via dMLC, and (2) methods and techniques for improved dosimetric precission and accuracy for Magna Field Radiation Therapy. |
Dr. Terrance Teslow, Ph.D. |
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