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This Trilogy system allows physicians to treat tumors obscured by organs, such as the heart or lungs.  Much like drivers find it easier to navigate the roads on a clear, sunny day than a foggy day, doctors can now have a clearer view of tumors thanks to this advancement in cancer treatment.  

The Trilogy system incorporates radiation beam shaping, patient positioning, and respiratory motion all into one machine.   At the core of the Trilogy system is a machine that rotates around the patient to deliver radiotherapy treatments from many angles.  The system is able to concentrate radiation doses on the tumor while protecting surrounding healthy tissue. 

“Radiation therapy is used today in more than half of all cancer treatments due to its unique clinical advantages,” says Al Lawson, Administrative Director of Radiation Oncology at the Florida Hospital Cancer Institute. “Using the Trilogy system, we have the potential to substantially improve treatment outcomes by doing a better job of protecting healthy tissue while delivering more powerful doses of radiation to tumors all while giving the patient greater comfort.”

The system also incorporates a tool for shaping the radiation beam to match the three-dimensional shape of the tumor, and a robotic On-Board Imager™ device for fast, accurate, real-time tumor tracking and automated patient positioning.  It also includes technologies that help doctors deal with tumor motion during treatment.  A set of optical guidance cameras monitor and correct for any patient movement, while an infrared monitoring device turns the radiation beam on and off at a predetermined point in a patient’s breathing cycle to compensate for respiratory motion. 

“These important tracking and targeting technologies will enable us to treat lesions that might not have been treatable in the past,” said Dr. Robert Sollaccio, Medical Director of Radiation Oncology at Florida Hospital Cancer Institute. 

“Better diagnostic tools are making it possible for us to see tumors much earlier, when they’re still very small, so stereotactic radiotherapies, like the Trilogy system that allow us to deliver higher doses of radiation to smaller areas over short periods of time as the future of cancer care,” said Lawson.