This advanced technology allows Montefiore Einstein Center for Cancer Care’s experienced physicians, physicists and radiologists to increase the accuracy of radiation treatment and decrease unnecessary radiation exposure. The use of 4D CT imaging allows us to track tumor and normal tissue motion and deformation, helping determine the optimum radiation treatment plan for each patient.
During 4D-CT imaging, the CT scanner registers a video loop of the patient over time, while a camera follows a UV light beacon placed upon the patient’s chest. Like frames in a movie, the images are combined to make one multidimensional image.
Radiation oncologists use 4D-CT images to visualize tumor target motion and deformation, correlating each position and shape with the exact timing during the breathing cycle. Adding respiratory gating technology to the 4D-CT, radiation is delivered as a “strobe” on and off during certain phases of the breathing cycle, which means that the patient will receive targeted full-dose radiation treatment to the tumor with minimal radiation exposure to the normal tissues.
Our Center for Radiation Therapy, in Montefiore Medical Park at the East Campus, is equipped with two Linear Accelerators. Our TrueBeam Linear Accelerator is found at our West Campus.