The Lynn Cancer Institute at the Boca Raton Regional Hospital has earned the reputation of being a premier Protura user. Dr. Tim Williams, the medical director, and his team have treated more than a 100 patients with the help of the Protura Robotic Couch.
The team is planning to put up a poster at the AAPM Conference 2011 highlighting the efficiency of the system. Williams explained that the robotic couch permits corrections in the pitch, yaw and roll, which in turn enhances the precision of the SBRT and SRS treatment. He added that the couch comes with six degrees of freedom, which allows for effective positioning of the patient during treatment.
The director of the Lynn Institute, Charles Shang, said that the Protura has boosted their confidence in treating complex cases by providing more accurate positioning during treatment. He added that for patients treated with intracranial or spinal SRS, where rotations were critical, the system proved extremely beneficial. He explained that more than half of the lung SBRT cases required 1.0° corrections in the roll or pitch rotation, which was accurately, accomplished using the Protura when compared to conventional methods. There are about 14 Protura systems installed worldwide, and several installations are pending with CIVCO. The Director of Business Development at CIVCO pointed out that physicians are able to accurately treat patients up to an accuracy of sub-millimeter with the Protura. The Vice President of Advanced Robotics and IGRT solutions at CIVCO said that they have been working with Lynn Cancer Institute for almost a year now and have continuously tried to improve the Protura system contributing to improving the workflow at clinics and their efficiencies.