Tattoo & Mark-Free Radiotherapy

Eliminate tattoos with AlignRT’s contact-free technology:

Submillimetric accuracy for all skin tones, gantry positions, and couch angles

Before Vision RT’s invention of Surface Guided Radiation Therapy, tattoos and other permanent marks were the near-universal norm for radiotherapy setups. But study after study has shown that many patients hold negative views on radiotherapy tattoos, seeing them as painful, lifelong reminders of their cancer treatments.

AlignRT can eliminate the need for tattoos or additional radiation and has been shown to be as accurate as marks or tattoos for positioning patients in preparation for their treatment1-3.

Treatments using AlignRT are 21% faster (per fraction) than traditional methods involving tattoos and marks4-8.

More than 250 clinics are now fully tattoo and mark-free thanks to AlignRT.

Patients will go out of their way to choose tattoo & mark-free

A breast journal study⁹  surveyed 138 Young Survival Coalition Cancer patients on their feelings about permanent radiation tattoos and marks. The study revealed that patients prefer a tattoo and mark-free option. Offering this can give your center a clear point of differentiation from your competition. Vision RT has customer resources available including a patient information tool kit to help you with your marketing.

What are your overall feelings about receiving a tattoo as part of your cancer treatment?

What are your overall feelings about skin marks during your radiation therapy treatment?

Patients will spend more time and money for a tattoo and mark-free option.

Hear from users on their clinical experience:

 

  1. Herron et al., (2018). Surface Guided Radiation Therapy as a Replacement for Patient Marks in Treatment of Breast Cancer. International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics, 102(3), pp.e492–e493. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrobp.2018.07.1400.
  2. Shah et al., (2013). Clinical evaluation of interfractional variations for whole breast radiotherapy using 3-dimensional surface imaging. Practical Radiation Oncology, [online] 3(1), pp.16–25. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prro.2012.03.002.
  3. Sueyoshi et al., (2019). Eliminating Daily Shifts, Tattoos, and Skin Marks: Streamlining Isocenter Localization With Treatment Plan Embedded Couch Values for External Beam Radiation Therapy. Practical Radiation Oncology, [online] 9(1), pp.e110–e117. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prro.2018.08.011.
  4. Giantsoudi et al., (2022). Tattoo Free Set-up for Breast Cancer Patients Receiving Regional Nodal Irradiation. Practical Radiation Oncology, [online] 0(0). doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prro.2022.08.001.
  5. Mueller et al., (2023). Accuracy and Efficiency of Patient Setup Using Surface Imaging versus Skin Tattoos for Accelerated Partial Breast Irradiation. Advances in Radiation Oncology, [online] 8(3). doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adro.2023.101183.
  6. Sauer et al., (2022). Prerequisites for the clinical implementation of a markerless SGRT-only workflow for the treatment of breast cancer patients. Strahlentherapie Und Onkologie: Organ Der Deutschen Rontgengesellschaft … [et Al]. [online] doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s00066-022-01966-7.
  7. Hickey et al., (2018-2020). Surface Guided Radiotherapy (SGRT) vs Varian RPM for deep inspiration breath-hold (DIBH) breast treatments.
  8. Kang et al., (2023). Evaluation of initial patient setup methods for breast cancer between surface-guided radiation therapy and laser alignment based on skin marking in the Halcyon system. Radiation Oncology, 18(1). doi:https://doi.org/10.1186/s13014-023-02250-3.
  9. Moser, T., Creed, M., Walker, R. and Meier, G. (2019). Radiotherapy tattoos: Women’s skin as a carrier of personal memory—What do we cause by tattooing our patients? The Breast Journal, 26(2). doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/tbj.13591.‌‌‌‌

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Ready to take the next step?

Vision RT’s family of SGRT solutions guide radiation therapy for better patient care at every step: Sim, Planning, Treatment and Dose. Whether you’re looking for a quote, a product demo (virtual or in-person) or just more information, please get in touch.