Varian Medical Systems this week introduced new capabilities for its Eclipse three dimensional (3D) radiotherapy treatment planning software at the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) meeting in Pittsburgh, Pa.

The new features include automatic compensation for variations in tissue thickness and the ability to combine multiple targets within a single plan.

Eclipse said it also now supports inverse planning of IMRT (intensity modulated radiation therapy) treatments with linear accelerators from other suppliers. "Now, Eclipse plans also can be exported to other manufacturers' accelerators, to deliver treatments according to those machines' capabilities," said Jeff Amacker, business manager for treatment planning products in Varian's Oncology Systems unit.

Compensating for variability in tissue thickness in areas of the body such as the breast, Varian said the software now offers "field in field" and "electronic surface compensator" capabilities that make it easier to avoid creating "hot spots" and to deliver radiation doses more uniformly throughout the target area.

In addition, a new multiple-prescription plan feature enables clinicians to develop plans for delivering different dose prescriptions to different target areas within a single treatment, instead of having to prepare separate plans for different areas.