Let me tell you, folks, hyperthermia treatment is a game-changer. We’re talking about turning up the heat on tumors to make radiotherapy and chemotherapy work better. It’s like, you have this powerful weapon, and now you’re making it even more powerful. But here’s the thing, to really nail this treatment, you need something called Hyperthermia Treatment Planning (HTP). It’s big. It’s important. It’s about predicting temperatures before the treatment even starts. But, and it’s a big but, you’ve got to be accurate. If you’re not accurate, what’s the point?

Now, accuracy, it’s tricky. Why? Because of uncertainties. We’re talking about things like tissue properties, where the tumor is, how everything’s positioned. It’s complex. But, we had this idea, a fantastic idea. What if we take images of the patient inside the applicator right at the start? Genius, right? Because one of the biggest headaches is perfusion. It’s a major player in this game.

So, we did this study. We got volunteers, real people, and we scanned them. First, without the hyperthermia device, just a regular setup. Then, with the device, the real deal, the treatment setup. And we looked at the temperatures, comparing the standard, what you see is what you get, against the optimized, the best you can get. And let me tell you, the results, they were something.

We found out that, yes, imaging right at the start, inside the applicator, it makes a difference. It improves the accuracy of HTP predictions. But, and here’s the kicker, you’ve got to get the perfusion modeling right. It’s crucial. If you’re optimizing based on temperature, you’ve got to nail this part.

In conclusion, pre-treatment imaging, it’s a winner. It makes things better. But never forget, tissue perfusion modeling, it’s the key. If you’re going for temperature-based optimization, this is where you focus. It’s big, folks. It’s important. And it’s how we’re going to beat this thing.