St. Vincent’s Private Hospital (SVPH) has become the first hospital in Ireland to pioneer new high precision technology which removes the need for permanent skin markings – traditionally a cause of significant distress to patients who have been recently diagnosed with cancer – and a continuous reminder of the disease after their cancer has gone.
Our, high precision, innovative technology called Surface Guided Radiotherapy (SGRT) offers an alternative to tattoos by using a 3D optical scan of the body surface to set up and verify the patient's position against their CT planning reference scan. Using over twenty thousand reference points on the patient's skin surface the technology can track and detect motion with sub-millimeter accuracy.
This equipment allows us to apply radiation treatment in a highly timely and targeted manner – without needing to permanently mark the patient to deliver the treatment. All of this is incredibly positive and can result in stronger health outcomes for our cancer patients both physically and psychologically.