A Danish IT firm is collaborating with a US company in creating a digital interface used in prostate cancer treatment.
BK Medical, a Denmark-based wholly owned subsidiary of Analogic Corporation, and Varian Medical Systems have announced a global collaboration to improve and streamline prostate brachytherapy procedures through a new, digital interface between BK Medical’s Pro Focus ultrasound scanner and Varian’s VariSeed 8.0 planning software.
This new digital interface enables new ways of performing prostate brachytherapy with its easy-to-use, streamlined workflow capabilities that include automatic calibration and multiple contouring transfers. Brachytherapy is an effective and widely used weapon in the armoury of oncologists in the fight against prostate cancer.
“This interface gives us a much higher quality image transfer and enables VariSeed to be far more interactive with the ultrasound unit,” says Hosea Mitchell, head of Varian’s brachytherapy group.
These efficiency improvements include improved workflow, as the image calibration data and contours are sent directly from the ultrasound to VariSeed so the user does not need to calibrate the images or re-contour the structures, thereby saving time.
The new interface also offers greater flexibility, as the urologist or radiation oncologist can zoom in or out on the ultrasound while using the VariSeed intra-operative module (Implant View) without losing calibration between the two systems.
BK Medical and Varian will be co-presenting the new interface at the upcoming 2008 World Congress of Brachytherapy, 4–6 May, in Boston, Massachussetts, followed by the 2008 American Urological Association meeting, 17–22 May, in Orlando, Florida, USA.
