Technical assessment of the NDI Polaris Vega optical tracking system

The Polaris product line from Northern Digital Inc. is well known for accurate optical tracking measurements in research and medical environments. The Spectra position sensor, to date often found in image guided radiotherapy suites, has however reached its end-of-life, being replaced by the new Vega model. The performance in static and dynamic measurements of this new device has been assessed in controlled laboratory conditions, against the strict requirements for system integration in radiation therapy. The system accuracy has improved with respect to the Spectra in both static (0.045 mm RMSE) and dynamic (0.09 mm IQR, < 20 cm/s) tracking and brings marginal improvement in the measurement latency (14.2 ± 1.8 ms). The system performance was further confirmed under clinical settings with the report of early results from periodic QA tests within specifications. Based on our tests, the Polaris Vega meets the quality standards of radiotherapy applications and can be safely used for monitoring respiratory breathing motion or verifying patient positioning.