Published prospective series of coil fiducial markers in lung SBRT document a migration rate of 19% — meaning roughly one in five markers moves significantly enough to compromise the registration geometry before the treatment course is complete.
In respiratory-motion-affected sites more broadly, published migration rates reach 46.9%. A migrated lung fiducial is particularly consequential: it may not be detected until an inexplicable geometric mismatch appears at treatment verification.
Gold Anchor's folding anchor design locks in lung parenchyma immediately on deployment. The same patented mechanism that delivers 0.32% migration in prostate applies equally to thoracic implants.
See Migration Comparison ↓The risks that standard lung fiducials carry
How Gold Anchor changes this
Migration Data
Note: bars scaled to the highest observed value (46.9%) to preserve visual accuracy
Gold Anchor's 0.32% migration rate was recorded in a prostate series where the anchor mechanism faces less mechanical challenge than in lung (no respiratory deformation, no airway pressure differentials). In lung, the folding anchor design provides the same locking mechanism — independent of the tissue elastic recoil that displaces coil markers.
Endoscopic Placement
Central and mediastinally-adjacent lung lesions — previously inaccessible to percutaneous fiducial placement — can be marked with Gold Anchor via a 22G bronchoscopic or EUS needle. The same 22G introducer used for pancreatic marking works for central lung tumours approached via the airway or oesophageal wall.
Gold Anchor Introducer — EUS Needle Technique
22G endoscopic ultrasound-guided placement · Pancreas · Central lung · Rectal wall
Published Research
Safety and marker visibility confirmed over full NSCLC IGRT course — fiducials remain detectable throughout treatment
Long-term safety and visibility of a novel liquid fiducial marker for use in image-guided radiotherapy of non-small cell lung cancer
Clinical and Translational Radiation Oncology · 2018
Gold Anchor marker CT artefact minimal; CyberKnife Synchrony fiducial recognition validated for lung SBRT
Evaluation of computed tomography metal artifact and CyberKnife fiducial recognition for novel size fiducial markers
Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics · 2023
Central lung and mediastinal lesions accessible via bronchoscopic 22G needle — extending IGRT to previously unreachable sites
Endoscopic Gold Anchor placement for central lung, pancreatic and rectal tumours — endoscopic approach
Journal of Radiation Research · 2021
Saxsons Group supplies Gold Anchor in India with training on percutaneous, bronchoscopic and EUS placement techniques for thoracic sites.
Gold Anchor™
Other Radiation Oncology posts and pages in the Gold Anchor family.
For Radiation Oncologist
Conventional coil and cylindrical fiducials migrate up to 19–47 %. Can a 0.32 % migration rate change how prostate SBRT is planned?
Read this Radiation OncologistWhen the target moves with every breath, what does it take to get from 5.3 mm soft-tissue alignment error down to 1.5 mm?
Read this Radiation OncologistWhat is the proton-fluence perturbation at clinical energies — and how do Gold Anchor fiducials compare to gold cylinders and titanium markers?
Read this Radiation OncologistA single-page overview of where the published evidence sits for prostate, liver, lung and particle therapy.
Read this