Image-Guided Radiotherapy

Non-invasive, state-of-the-art imaged-guided radiotherapy, also known as image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) involves taking frequent images during a course of radiation therapy to improve the precision and accuracy of the radiation delivery.

In IGRT, the linear accelerators (machines that deliver radiation) are equipped with imaging technology that takes pictures (X-rays, 3-D ultrasound or CT scans) immediately before or during the radiation delivery. Specialized computer software compares these images to the images taken during the CT simulation.

Necessary adjustments can then be made to the patient's position for more precise targeting. With this level of accuracy, the radiation fields can be made even tighter around the tumor, resulting in more accurate delivery of dose to the tumor and minimal impact to adjacent normal tissue. By minimizing radiation to your body, IGRT gives you the safest, most accurate treatment available.

Image-guided radiation therapy is used for a variety of cancer treatments, but it is especially useful for patients with breast cancer and prostate cancer.

IGRT Clarity Breast & Prostate System

IGRT Clarity Breast & Prostate System is a non-invasive, state-of-the-art system that allows the Center for Advanced Radiation Medicine team to precisely locate the cancer with 3-D ultrasound and CT technology; adjust radiation treatment to its precise dimensions; and treat only those targeted cancer cells, rather than healthy cells. This minimizes radiation to your body, and gives you the safest, most accurate treatment available. IGRT Clarity Breast & Prostate System is available at Lake Forest Hospital and Grayslake Outpatient Center.