Open Unit Yields Access to High Tech Cancer Weapon
The CyberKnife Center of Palm Beach, one of only 35 such freestanding outpatient centers in the United States, recently marked a milestone when the team treated its 100th patient. The center, opened in November 2005, utilizes unique “image-guided” technology that is seamlessly integrated with intelligent robotics to deliver higher doses of targeted radiation to cancerous tumors.. This non-invasive radiosurgery device can ablate tumors and other lesions previously unreachable by other therapies. It can be used as a primary therapy– without open surgery– or as an adjunct to surgery and other treatments. Multiple beams of precisely directed radiation zap the tumor while minimizing injury to surrounding healthy tissue.
The CyberKnife robotic arm uses the Synchrony System, according to Maria Freed, Center Vice President. “A respiratory tracking camera combined with industrial robot technology with 6 degrees of movement actually blends the best of medicine and engineering to deliver safer, more effective treatments to patients who previously were untreatable,” she explained.
The synchrony system delivers continual real-time feedback of target position and the robotics immediately compensate for the slightest movement as a result of breathing, ensuring pinpoint accuracy during radiation treatment. This precision has expanded CyberKnife use for the treatment of tumors in the lung and other parts of the anatomy that move with respiration. Synchrony allows patients to breathe normally throughout their treatment without uncomfortable breath-holding or immobilization while clinicians track and correct for tumor and patient movement throughout the treatment.
“Obviously, this also provides for a more comfortable patient experience. In fact, we even use aroma therapy to help relax the patient during the 1 to 1 ½ hour typical procedure,” Freed added.
Open Unit Credentialing
Another unique aspect of this center is that it is an “Open Unit”. It has no restrictive ties to any specific health care center. To be credentialed to take advantage of this high end technology, a physician must be an active member of a JCAHO accredited hospital, board certified, and undergo an intense training with hands-on experience before bringing patients for CyberKnife therapy. All staff members are required to participate in monthly tumor board meetings and adhere to strict quality assurance standards and peer review to enhance patient continuity of care.
Freed remarked, “We have found that this Open Unit status has been well received as a cost effective and efficient method of opening access to high technology for different specialists and more patients across the nation.”
This United Nations approach to credentialing has been embraced by more than 100 credentialed physicians from a variety of clinical settings. They view it as a means to keep abreast of the latest in stereotactic radiotherapy and maintain collegial relations with a multi-disciplinary team of surgeons, neurosurgeons, radiation oncologists, medical physicists, and radiation technologists who participate in the patient treatment plan.
The CyberKnife Center clinical team is led by Executive Director, James G. Schwade, MD, FACR, FACRO, an internationally recognized radiation oncologist with over 20 years of clinical experience. Schwade holds the rank of Clinical Professor of Radiation Oncology at the University of Miami School of Medicine.
“The open unit credentialing concept is a rare opportunity to make an investment in technology that will allow doctors to save and enhance the quality of patients lives while dramatically reducing the length, cost and medical risk of treatments,” Freed said.
Enhanced Care, Increased Patient Safety & Comfort
The benefits to patients are many. There is no incision, blood or anesthesia as with traditional surgery; and therefore, little or no risk of infection, and no pain or rehabilitation time. This allows both the very young and the elderly to be considered as candidates for the outpatient procedure.
Due to the targeted radiation delivery through the robotic arm and linear accelerator( Linac) image guidance, individualized CyberKnife treatment plans can be considered for skull tumors, spine tumors, cervical, thoracic and lumbar lesions and for full body targeting of the lung, liver, pancreas, prostate, bladder and breast, as well as the head and neck. Treatments may consist of a single session or staged treatment.
In a bold blend of clinical, engineering and marketing expertise, the CyberKnife Center of Palm Beach provides physicians and patients access to a remarkable cutting edge cancer weapon that can help treat formerly unreachable tumors in a cost effective and non-invasive procedure.
The CyberKnife was developed at Stanford University in 1992 and granted FDA approval in 1999. It is manufactured and distributed by Accuray Incorporated, California, a global leader in the field of robotic radiosurgery ( www.accuray.com ).