First German clinical MRI Planner results to be presented at the DMGP-Nord meeting

An evaluation of the first 60 patients treated using MRI Planner at the Radiologische Allianz clinic in Hamburg will be presented at the Deutschen Gesellschaft für Medizinische Physik (DGMP) Nord meeting on November 15 in Hamburg.

The outcome of the evaluation is reported to be excellent. This post will be updated with a link to the presentation as soon as it is available.

Spectronic Medical announces the immediate release of MRI Planner version 2

MRI Planner v2 introduces the deep-learning driven transfer function estimation (TFE) algorithm for ultra-robust synthetic CT (sCT) generation. The TFE algorithm generates outstanding synthetic CT images with unsurpassed level of detail using any MRI scanner. In addition, it also  provides fully automated organ delineations. The currently released version is CE marked for prostate radiotherapy, but additional anatomies will follow shortly.

Processing time to generate a synthetic CT is less than five minutes and the software can easily be integrated in the clinical workflow through a secure cloud connection. MRI Planner v2 eliminates registration related uncertainties, reduces treatment costs and increases patient comfort.

A white paper describing the details of the TFE algorithm will be presented shortly.

MRI Planner v2 is available for clinical use today. Please contact our sales department if you would like to purchase or evaluate the software.

Visit us at booth #3430 on ESTRO 38

ESTRO is the largest European radiotherapy congress and Spectronic Medical is very happy to announce its presence on this very important event. We warmly welcome everyone who has an interest in the latest development in MRI only radiotherapy planning to come and visit us in our booth at location #3430 in the main exhibition hall.

If you are interested in setting up a meeting with us during the conference please don't hesitate to contact us at sales@spectronic.se

ESTRO 38 will take place at the Milano Convention (MiCo) centre in Milan, Italy on April 26-30.

First UK prostate cancer patients treated using pioneering MRI-only radiotherapy planning technology provided by Spectronic Medical.


Text cited from Newcastle Hospitals (1):

Newcastle Hospitals is revolutionising prostate cancer treatment

Prostate cancer is the commonest cancer among men in the UK. Radiotherapy is an often used treatment given to prostate cancer patients and involves delivering a very high dose of radiation to the prostate gland and as low a dose as possible to surrounding healthy organs, such as the  bowel and bladder. The treatment normally requires patients to attend for a CT scan in the radiotherapy department  as well as an MRI scan to gain a better image of the target and organs at risk - in this case the prostate,  bowel and bladder respectively.  NCCC was one of the first UK radiotherapy centres to use MRI in this way specifically for radiotherapy treatment planning.

Conventional workflow has been to combine the MRI scan with the CT data needed for accurate radiotherapy dose calculations.

Dual imaging requires patients to attend for two separate sessions. However, new MRI-only planning technology is now available which means the CT scan can be omitted. Careful validation of this approach now means that the patients need only attend for a single scanning session.

Head of Radiotherapy Physics, Chris Walker, said: “It is particularly gratifying that the implementation of the most up to date technology allows our patients to benefit from spending less time in hospital.”

Consultant Clinical Oncologist, Rachel Pearson, added: “This new MRI-only system is already being used in several European radiotherapy departments and now, here in Newcastle, we have treated the first patients in the UK using this treatment pathway.

“Using one image rather than two allows us to better target the tumour and avoid healthy organs. It also reduces the amount of time patients are in hospital and the severity of side-effects, both in the short and longer term. We are very excited that, with support from the charity Charlie Bear for Cancer Care, we are able to bring this state-of-the-art treatment to our patients in the North East.”

Keith Kirby, aged 69, from Gosforth, is one of the first patients to benefit from the new technology at NCCC. He said: “Anything that can improve the technique and make the delivery of the radiotherapy more accurate has to be a good thing. I’m only too pleased to help by being a part of this new pre-treatment.”


(1) www.newcastle-hospitals.org.uk/news/news-item-23612.aspx

(2) https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/new-approach-prostate-cancer-therapy-15755780

(3) https://theworldnews.net/gb-news/new-approach-to-prostate-cancer-therapy-is-making-treatment-easier-for-patients-in-newcastle

(4) http://www.newslocker.com/en-uk/region/gateshead/new-approach-to-prostate-cancer-therapy-is-making-treatment-easier-for-patients-in-newcastle/view/