Lawrence + Memorial Hospital is one of few facilities in New England, the first in Connecticut, to utilize the state of the art Calypso 4D Localization System for the treatment of prostate cancer.
The Calypso 4D System specializes in localizing and continuously tracking the movement of the prostate to allow for high accuracy and reproducibility of external beam radiation treatments. Patients have seed sized Calypso Beacon Transponders implanted into the prostate prior to treatment.
The transponders use electromagnetic signals to communicate with the 4D system to identify the location of the prostate on a daily basis. In addition to pinpointing the location of the prostate, the Calypso system is also able to continuously track the movement of the prostate during the radiation treatment. This allows for precise targeting of the prostate for daily setup as well as ensuring the prostate remains within the target area during treatment. As a result, the size of the treatment margins around the prostate is smaller than with traditional non-Calypso treatment. This in turn spares more of the surrounding tissues and organs leading to fewer treatment side effects.