Clinicians at UZ Brussel are reportedly the first to treat breast cancer patients with Brainlab’s new DIBH (Deep Inspiration Breath Hold) technology.

The technology is developed to optimize SGRT and IGRT (surface guided and image-guided therapy) and provide a high quality of care for patients diagnosed with breast cancer.

For the unversed, UZ Brussel is a Vrije Universiteit Brussel hospital with almost 4,000 employees and 721 hospital beds. The hospital successfully corroborated the technology and presented research at ESTRO at the Novalis Circle Symposium.

The research exhibits that Brainlab ExacTrac Dynamic® DIBH optimizes the process and increases the confidence in positioning through spontaneous X-ray confirmation.

Verification of the internal anatomy at the breath-hold level might increase assurance in dose sparing of important structures like the heart.

Deep Inspiration Breath Hold is a well-established standard of care and technique in treating breast cancer using radiation therapy. When a patient breathes deeply, the distance between the chest cavity and the heart is increased. This reduces the risk of cardiac toxicity while treating breast cancer.

Brainlab technology takes conventional surface tracking methodology and expands it with a thermal signature. This provides a fourth dimension to curb discrepancies that are otherwise related to surface tracking systems.

The inclusion of synchronized X-ray images to the workflow adds clinical confidence and increases accuracy by integrating information extracted from internal body anatomy.

Stefan Vilsmeier, CEO and President of Brainlab stated that the adoption of instant X-ray confirmation optimizes the process and assures that the heart is away from the treatment beam.

Vilsmeier added that the solution instantly delivers the connection between external and internal anatomy in a shot, disclosing any misalignment that would generally stay undetected and could lead to the deliverance of excess dosage.

Two years ago, Brainlab deployed ExacTrac Dynamic Patient positioning and monitoring systems at UZ Brussel. This system is deeply integrated with most linear accelerators that enable the gating and repositioning of thermal-surface triggered beam.

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