How to Stop Compromising Patient Safety, Treatment Time and Workflow Efficiency

How do you continuously hit the mark in long and complex treatments, without compromising patient safety, treatment time or workflow efficiency? Our answer is the Catalyst+ HD system. 

We have developed the Catalyst+ HD Ring Gantry with input from clinicians in order to equip ring gantry linear accelerators (Linacs) with our latest generation of Surface Guided Radiation Therapy (SGRT). Safe and efficient patient treatment is the common goal. The Catalyst+ HD is now available for even more Linacs, including the major ring gantry systems on the market.   

Catalyst+ HD uses continuous 3D surface monitoring and compares the current body posture to a previously recorded reference. SGRT covers the entire body surface and provides technicians with interactive visual guidance through a color map projected during setup. After posture correction and precise isocenter alignment, the need for imaging and re-imaging can be reduced. Opposed to this, the conventional setup outside the gantry uses only three points on the patient’s body. This makes it impossible to detect a postural error or misalignment of the extremities, and correction of setup errors must be done manually, making the process even more time-consuming. With Catalyst+ HD, this all happens in real-time and with dose-free monitoring.

In short, you get high efficiency without any risk to patient safety. With the exceptionally large Field of View (FOV), Catalyst+ cameras provide a full picture of the treatment at setup outside the gantry as well as at the treatment inside the gantry. As a consequence of the large scan volume, projection, and advanced registration properties of Catalyst+ the entire workflow can be supported with a single scanner. The Catalyst+ HD has two additional side scanners for optimal positioning. The system captures and analyzes the patient’s body surface at all times.

Deep Inspiration Breath Hold (DIBH) radiotherapy is commonly used on conventional Linacs to improve treatment outcomes. The Catalyst+ HD System provides additional levels of treatment accuracy and efficiency for DIBH treatments by utilizing respiratory management. Catalyst+ HD provides full workflow support. From setup to treatment procedure, the monitoring process is streamlined to work in harmony with the machine.

The system also supports breath hold and free breathing modes, optimizing breathing patterns throughout treatment. The workflow is patient-centric, with augmented reality color projection, real-time feedback, and audiovisual coaching. Visual guidance in Catalyst+ for respiratory gating has already been shown to improve intrafraction reproducibility and increase patient compliance.

DIBH is becoming the standard of care in left-sided breast cancer, with its capacity to reduce non-prescribed dose intake and decrease complications. All of these factors are parts of the ultimate ambition: to lower mortality. 

Catalyst+ HD enables real-time monitoring of the patient positioning during helical treatments. The complex nature of helical treatments emphasizes the importance of accuracy of the target position and maintaining the position during the entire treatment. The Catalyst+ HD system is developed to reduce overall treatment time by optimizing the imaging process, without compromising treatment quality or patient safety.

We are proud that our positioning accuracy is within 0.5 mm for a rigid body. By monitoring movements in a fraction of a second and in real-time, any patient movement exceeding the threshold triggers a response. The non-rigid algorithm performs surface and volume calculations simultaneously, ensuring robust isocenter precision. And the Catalyst+ HD is able to simultaneously support both manual DIBH activation and 6 Degrees Of Freedom (6DOF) patient monitoring.

The positioning system is your eyes when it comes to treatment alignment. We have optimized the camera settings and fine-tuned the settings to the gantry to ensure every tiny detail is taken care of. Since continuous quality monitoring is the cornerstone of consistent treatment quality, we have also enhanced the Quality Assurance (QA) process to provide a highly integrated approach to sustained excellence.

Catalyst+ HD is available for multiple ring gantries, including the following Accuray systems: TomoTherapy® and Radixact® and these Varian systems: Halcyon® and Ethos™.* Our experts are happy to help you choose the best option for your patients.

TomoTherapy® and Radixact® are trademarked by Accuray.

* Use of Varian trademarks by C-RAD is not an endorsement of Varian Medical Systems or the C-RAD Catalyst or its promotion and advertising. The Catalyst system has not undergone an interoperability assessment with the Varian Halcyon® system and is only sanctioned by Varian for use in DIBH treatments.