| Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts)
Joined: Nov 2002 Posts: 3,552 | They have been using "image guided" for some time now, in various procedures from diagnostic to therapeutic.
Ultrasound guided biopsy has been around for at least 10 years.
Often times it is used to insure that trach and intubation tubes are properly inserted, as well as peg and other feeding tubes (as with Christine).
Tomographic RT (or IGRT) is done by using CT imaging to adjust the beam field as treatment progresses and the tumor shrinks.
It can be done manually (such as removal of polyps during a colonoscopy) or automatically, such as image guided surgery.
Gary Allsebrook
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Dx 11/22/02, SCC, 6 x 3 cm Polypoid tumor, rt tonsil, Stage III/IVA, T3N0M0 G1/2
Tx 1/28/03 - 3/19/03, Cisplatin ct x2, IMRT, bilateral, with boost, x35(69.96Gy)
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"You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes" (James 4:14 NIV)
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