Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT) is a new breakthrough system for patient set-up and alignment. With IGRT, patients are x-rayed before each treatment. Those x-rays are compared to the patient’s initial CT scan and the patient is matched perfectly to their original set-up position every single treatment. This positioning system is far superior to skin marks or tattoos that are placed on the patient’s skin. Unlike previous methods of patient alignment, IGRT can account for daily organ movement and changes in the patient’s internal anatomy throughout the course of their treatment. IGRT also allows for narrow margins between the tumor and the healthy tissues. With smaller margins, there is less radiation delivered to healthy tissue while maintaining sufficient dose to the malignant tumor tissue.
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