The Beamlet

A Message from Dr. Fred Robertson, CEO, TomoTherapy Inc.

Through the first seven issues of The Beamlet, we have introduced a number of new products designed to maximize your investment in a TomoTherapy^® Hi·Art^® system. In addition, we have shared important milestones for our company and for our treatment center partners worldwide. With this issue, we’re doing both—previewing the CTrue™ platform we’ll formally launch at ASTRO, and explaining why it’s a milestone for us all.

First off, let me define CTrue by providing necessary context.

CTrue is a new way of expressing a concept that dates back to 1990. The concept was—and still is—that the best way to leverage the precision of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) is with imaging technology that can guarantee accuracy at every treatment fraction.

Today, of course, everyone knows the need for image guidance. Back then, only a team of researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (led by Dr. Rock Mackie and Paul Reckwerdt) set out to address that need, moving beyond the limitations of C-arm linac design with their very first step.

By opting to mount the linac of the TomoTherapy Hi·Art System on a rigid ring gantry, the UW group opened the door for 360º fan-beam delivery of IMRT and fully-integrated, megavoltage CT imaging. This advance gave clinicians the ability to better focus radiation beams, and the flexibility to adapt daily treatment based on changing patient anatomy.

Since then, a lot has transpired, not the least of which was the 1997 founding of TomoTherapy Inc. by Mackie and Reckwerdt. Now almost 10 years later, the company continues to follow the path of those first few steps.

Just this past June, we released our Planned Adaptive software, which permits the quantitative analysis and modification of a patient’s treatment at any point during the treatment course. In August, we introduced the Web-enabled TomoPortal™ tool, which allows for the remote assessment of treatment plans and registration images directly from the Hi·Art system.

With these key new products, plus a promising pipeline, we see clearly what a true CT makes possible. With CTrue, we commit to sharing this vision with you—so patients and referring physicians understand what sets the Hi·Art system apart.

Sincerely,

Fred Robertson, MD
CEO, TomoTherapy Incorporated

Visit us at ASTRO, Booth #501
for an in-depth look at CTrue and more.

A number of representatives from our treatment center partners will be offering 30-minute presentations at the TomoTherapy booth:

Sunday: 1:30 • Ravi Kulasekere, PhD, Medical Physicist; University Hospitals Case Medical Center & Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH; 2:30 • Paul Read, MD, PhD, Assoc. Prof. and Vice Chair, Residency Program Director; Department of Radiation Oncology, U. of Virginia Medical Center, Charlottesville, VA; 3:30 • John Gibbons, PhD, Head of Clinical Physics; Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center, Baton Rouge, LA
Monday: 11:30 • Michael Bloom, RT (R)(T), Radiation Oncology Manager; Memorial Hospital, Colorado Springs, CO; 1:00 • Lane Rosen, MD, Director of Radiation Oncology; Willis-Knighton Medical Center, Shreveport, LA; 2:30 • Emilie Soisson, MS, Medical Physicist; Hoag Memorial Hospital Cancer Center, Newport Beach, CA; 3:30 • Jeffery Wong, MD, Professor and Chair, Division of Radiation Oncology; City of Hope Cancer Center, Duarte, CA
Tuesday: 11:30 • Chet Ramsey, PhD, Director of Medical Physics, Department of Radiation Oncology; Thompson Cancer Survival Center, Knoxville, TN; 12:30 • Katie Harmon, RT(T), Technical Director for Oncology Design; North Florida Cancer Center Tallahassee, Tallahassee, Florida; 1:30 • Tim Holmes, PhD, Director of Medical Physics; St. Agnes Hospital, Baltimore, MD; 2:30 • Mike Mills, PhD, Chief of Medical Physics; James Graham Brown Cancer Center, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY