The Princess Margaret “Transformers”

24 PRINCESS MARGARET CANCER CENTRE ICON is a next-generation platform co-developed by the team at The Princess Margaret and Elekta Inc. It delivers a high dose of radiation to treat brain disorders, while improving patient care. ICON incorporates cone-beam CT image-guidance capabilities developed and prototyped at The Princess Margaret into the existing Leksell Gamma Knife device. The image-guidance capabilities unlock new ways of delivering radiosurgery. The previous-generation Gamma Knife could produce complex, conformal dose distributions, but it required the use of a stereotactic frame to immobilize and position patients’ heads. “One of the most interesting features of ICON is that we can use the imaging system to take an image of the patient and localize the skull, and then that becomes the stereotactic frame,” explains Dr. David Jaffray. “It’s like having a virtual frame built into the patient.” The head frame is an uncomfortable device, and makes it difficult for treatment teams to bring patients in for regular treatments spread out over many sessions. Removing that constraint enables clinicians to harness the full power of the Gamma Knife system. For example, the imaging capabilities allow ICON to perform adaptive dose control, where the system adjusts radiation delivery based on real-time CT data or changes in a tumour that occur through the course of a longer treatment regimen. This technology will enable our cancer experts to treat a wider variety of conditions and help more patients. ICON is already being used around the world, including at some Canadian cancer centres. WE INVENTED: LEKSELL GAMMA KNIFE - ICON RADIATION MEDICINE PROGRAM