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There is no current commercial method capable of directly visualizing a soft-tissue volume and it can allow more aggressive treatment strategies that employ dose escalation.
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Summary Researchers at Stanford and University of California, Berkeley, have developed an integrated MRI-Linac hybrid system that can increase the efficacy of image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT). This system allows more aggressive treatment strategies that employ dose escalation, tighter geometric margins and sharper dose gradients which can improve clinical outcomes. This radiotherapy treatment apparatus includes a treatment beam (charged by Linac, particle, proton, or electron beam), a magnetic field disposed parallel collinear to the treatment beam, and a target that is disposed along the treatment beam. MRI is ideal for IGRT, however, there is magnetic field and RF interference between the linear accelerator and MRI scanner. The configurations of this system overcome this issue.