Cancer patients are benefiting from a new type of radiotherapy which reduces treatment time whilst increasing accuracy and patient comfort.
Surface Guided Radiotherapy (SGRT) is now being offered to patients receiving radiotherapy treatment at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH) and Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital’s NHS Foundation Trust (NNUH) which uses specialist cameras to create a unique 3D outline of the surface of a patient’s body.
We’re excited there will now be two centres in the East offering this advanced technology to patients. The SGRT system intuitively provides our radiographers instant visual feedback when setting up patients before treatment. Our teams have worked hard over the summer to test and train on the system, and it is rewarding to see our patients benefitting from the increased accuracy and efficiency of SGRT.
Andrew Robinson, head of radiotherapy physics at CUH
Radiotherapy is the use of powerful X-rays to treat cancers. Therapeutic radiographers plan and deliver radiotherapy and traditionally use tattoo marks and X-ray images to ensure patients are positioned correctly. They then monitor patients carefully during their treatment to ensure they stay in the correct position.
The SGRT system called AlignRT, uses light beams and advanced cameras to create a 3D outline of the patient’s body, helping the therapeutic radiographers get the patient into the correct position more accurately and quickly. It can also be used to automatically interrupt treatment if the patient is no longer in the correct position, which is usually a manual task.
The benefits of SGRT are quick and accurate patient positioning, no requirement for tattoo marks and less X-ray image exposure to patients.
CUH has spent £4m on two new TrueBeam linacs, which are fitted with the innovative SGRT system. It will be rolled out to a third linac machine at a later date. Surface Guided Radiotherapy will initially be used to treat patients with breast cancer, with patients no longer needing permanent tattoo markings from January 2026.
It’s been a real team-effort and I’m so proud we’ve been able to come together to introduce this new technology. It offers so much: it increases accuracy by being able to monitor patient position during treatment, reduces treatment time and as there is less manual positioning required, it is more comfortable for patients. It is a brilliant advancement in radiotherapy treatment.
Jemma Chapman, head of radiotherapy
In addition to the two new linac machines, colourful artwork and view panels have been installed to help provide a calm and pleasant environment for patients undergoing radiotherapy treatment.
The success of the project is the result of the diligent efforts over several months of many individuals including the project owners, the Trust's Capital Planning project team and the Clinical team.
