HYGEIA hospital adopts New Radiotherapy end-to-end Verification Method Using an Exact Patient Replica

06 November 2018

For the first time in Greece

A new end-to-end verification method for brain and head and neck radiotherapy is being introduced for the first time in Greece at HYGEIA Hospital, ensuring maximum patient safety and effective treatment delivery. The new verification method takes place prior to the patient’s treatment using RTsafe Personalized PseudoPatient™ technology.

Specifically, using CT images and highly accurate 3D printing medical technology, an exact and unique replica of the patient head is created from a material that interacts with radiation similarly to the human tissue. The Personalized PseudoPatient^TM simulates the anatomy of the patient and allows measurement of the delivered dose to the tumor and the organs at risk. This allows radiotherapy professionals to simulate the radiotherapy procedure on an anatomically perfect facsimile of the patient before the actual treatment is performed, ensuring maximum accuracy and safety during radiotherapy. The benefits of the method are quite significant for patients, given that many brain tumors are located only a few millimeters from healthy tissue, such as the optic nerve.

HYGEIA Hospital is listed among the leading hospitals using the RTsafe technology worldwide, including UCLA, MD Anderson and UTHealth in the USA, as well as Royal Marsden and the University of Freiburg in Europe.

Commenting on the adoption of this latest technology, the Director of the HYGEIA Hospital Radiation Oncology Center, Mr Konstantinos Dardoufas, noted, “The HYGEIA Hospital Radiation Oncology Center is paving the way yet again, using this new technology to ensure maximum accuracy to radiotherapy delivery and patient safety. The extensive experience of the scientific personnel, the modern technology and radiotherapy techniques as well as the ongoing personnel training not only ensure successful treatment, but also help preserve the quality of life of our patients.”

The HYGEIA Hospital Radiation Oncology Center is a European Reference Center for Radiotherapy and a Center of Excellence for Stereotactic Radiotherapy & Radiosurgery. It is the most advanced and sophisticated center in Greece, equipped with all the latest technology (VERSA HD^ΤΜ, Synergy Agility^ΤΜ, Axesse^ΤΜ with the robotic HexaPOD treatment couch and Gamma Knife Perfexion) and one of the best in Europe. It also boasts the most extensive experience in the latest radiotherapy techniques (IMRT, VMAT, IGRT, Stereotaxy and Radiosurgery), being the first center to implement them in Greece, with the aim of offering optimal radiotherapy to its patients. Additionally, the HYGEIA Radiation Oncology Center has a special medical team dedicated to pediatric radiotherapy.