Newest Technology

RapidArc™ radiotherapy technology, a breakthrough technology for delivering fast, precise cancer treatments, is now available at Syracuse Radiation Oncology, offering new hope to people who are battling cancer. RapidArc™ treatments are two to eight times faster than conventional radiotherapy; its precision enables Dr. Mariados to target tumors accurately, meaning more dose to the tumor and less dose to surrounding healthy tissue. 

RapidArc radiotherapy delivers image guided IMRT (intensity-modulated radiation therapy) in a single rotation of the treatment machine around the patient. During the treatment, the radiation beam is shaped and reshaped as it is continuously delivered from virtually every angle in a 360-degree revolution around the patient.

The beam shaping is accomplished using a multi-leaf collimator (MLC), which is a device with 120 computer-controlled mechanical “leaves” or “fingers that move to create apertures of different shapes and sizes. During a RapidArc treatment, specialized software algorithms vary three parameters simultaneously: the speed of rotation around the patient, the shape of the MLC aperture, and the dose delivery rate. Sophisticated treatment plans, generated by computer on the basis of each patient’s unique anatomy and tumor size, shape, and position within the body, guide the treatments.

The faster RapidArc treatments are easier on the patient, who does not need to hold still for long periods of time. By reducing the time it takes to deliver IMRT and other precise forms of radiation therapy, RapidArc has the potential to improve the quality of care and of patient comfort, while making radiation oncology a more affordable treatment for some types of cancer.