MRCAT Brain

MRCAT Brain lets you plan radiation therapy for patients with primary and metastatic tumors in the brain using MRI as a single-modality solution. Within just one fast MR scan, MRCAT Brain provides excellent soft-tissue contrast for target and OAR delineation, and CT-like density information for dose calculations - directly on the console. This not only extends the benefits of MRI’s outstanding soft-tissue contrast to radiotherapy planning, but it also eliminates arduous, error-prone CT-MRI registration from the process, reducing uncertainties and complexity.

With Philips MRCAT (MR for Calculating ATtenuation) Brain imaging protocol, a single mDIXON T1W scan provides information for both contouring and dose calculation for treatment planning. As anatomical and density information originate from the same scan, no image registration is required and spatial and temporal consistency are ensured.

An MR exam can cause stress for patients. Especially if they are immobilized and in treatment position. The MRCAT source scan is accelerated by Compresses SENSE and takes just a few minutes to complete. This promotes patient comfort by minimizing time in the scanner. Furthermore, it can boost productivity by allowing for additional sequences within the timeslot.

MRCAT Brain uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) for fast computation of MRCAT attenuation maps based on the mDIXON T1W scan. MRCAT generation takes place right on the MR console and provides continuous Hounsfield units for CT-like image appearance.

MRCAT Brain has been designed with the strict accuracy requirements of RT in mind. MRCAT image acquisition is geometrically accurate* and verification studies have shown that MRCAT-based dose plans are equivalent** to CT-based plans, promoting confidence in dose planning.

DICOM-CT conform, the MRCAT Brain dataset can be exported to treatment planning systems and used as the primary image dataset for dose calculations. You can also use the high-resolution MRCAT data for patient positioning at the Linac. Studies have shown that positioning verification is as accurate as with CT-based workflows***.

To successfully bring MR-only radiotherapy into your clinical routine, we recognize that you must look beyond the imaging itself and address important steps such as patient marking, position verification, and quality assurance. We are prepared to support you throughout this process. To this end, we offer dedicated workflow descriptions, best practice sharing and tailored training support, designed to provide assistance as you adopt this new treatment paradigm.