The Watchful Eye of New Tech at Cone Health Cancer Center Improves Treatment

Cone Health is one of only three locations in North Carolina using this system.

Greensboro—A new system at Cone Health uses X-rays, visual cameras, thermal cameras and even watches cancer patients’ breath to improve radiation treatments. The ExacTrac Dynamic system by Brainlab precisely tracks the position of the patient and can pause treatments if the patient moves outside of a predetermined zone. This promises more radiation on the cancer, less on healthy tissues and more effective treatments. 

Why this matters to patients

“Having the very best technology to treat cancer is important to our patients. At Cone Health, we have the technology to shape radiation to within the thickness of a credit card,” explains Dr. B.J. Sintay, Cone Health Chief Physicist. “Even when you think you are still, you are moving a small amount. ExacTrac Dynamic allows us to compensate for that movement, making our treatment more effective.” 

How it will be used 

Sintay says brain tumors are one area it shines. It also will be used for other challenging tumors such as spine, lung, prostate and abdominal cancers. 

What it does

The system combines information from up to 300,000 visual points on a patient’s body with thermal camera data to track movement over time. Low-dose x-rays track internal anatomy. Using the three technologies together allows for unprecedented accuracy while treatment occurs. 

Brainlab has 200 systems installed worldwide, with fewer than 30 in the United States.