PALO ALTO, Calif., Sept. 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR) today announced the first two planned system installations of the company's Edge™ Radiosurgery Suite, a fully integrated dedicated system for performing advanced radiosurgery using new real-time tumor tracking technology and motion management capabilities.
"We are pleased to announce the first two installations will be at the Champalimaud Foundation in Lisbon, Portugal and Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, Michigan," says Chris Toth, vice president of marketing for Varian's Oncology Systems business. "Champalimaud Foundation represents our first installation in Europe and Henry Ford Health System our first in North America. The institutions represent and embody clinical excellence and we are thrilled that we get to launch this exciting new platform into clinical use with them."
"High-precision stereotactic ablative radiotherapy has evolved into a highly efficient, non-invasive, and low-toxicity method for treating and, in many cases, eradicating tumors, in an ever increasing number of clinical settings," says Carlo Greco, M.D., professor of radiation oncology and director of clinical research at the Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown. "The Edge system has been designed to meet this challenge, providing a very comprehensive platform for delivery of high-precision 4-D adaptive tumor radiotherapy."
"At Henry Ford, we've had long-standing multidisciplinary collaborative research teams conducting research into the optimal use of radiosurgery to treat tumors of the spine and brain," says neurosurgeon Steven N. Kalkanis, M.D., director of the Center for Cancer Surgery at Henry Ford Hospital. "The biggest challenge with this type of treatment is that there is no room for error. Millimeters matter. The Edge radiosurgery suite is calibrated for sub-millimeter accuracy. That will help us rest assured that we are doing everything possible to protect normal tissues."
"Varian's Edge suite offers clinicians a wide spectrum of capabilities in one smooth end-to-end workflow," said Kolleen Kennedy, president of Varian's Oncology Systems business. "With sub-millimeter accuracy, accelerated treatment speeds, and real-time tracking, we feel the Edge has become the sharpest radiosurgery blade on the market, and we are delighted to be working with the system's early adopters."
The Edge Advisory Board
Varian is also launching The Edge Advisory Board, in order to partner with thought leaders in radiosurgery, including neuro- and thoracic surgeons as well as radiation oncologists, to support clinical education and advance standards of care.
"The objective, in forming this Advisory Board, is to partner with clinicians who perform these procedures to reimagine the practice of radiosurgery," said Deepak Khuntia M.D., vice president for medical affairs. "We envision this group helping us expand the professional knowledge base on both intracranial and extracranial radiosurgery."
Note to editors: high resolution images of the Edge radiosurgery suite are available at this URL: http://newsroom.varian.com/edge.
About Varian Medical Systems
Varian Medical Systems, Inc., of Palo Alto, California, is the world's leading manufacturer of medical devices and software for treating cancer and other medical conditions with radiotherapy, radiosurgery, and brachytherapy. The company supplies informatics software for managing comprehensive cancer clinics, radiotherapy centers and medical oncology practices. Varian is a premier supplier of tubes, digital detectors, and image processing workstations for X-ray imaging in medical, scientific, and industrial applications and also supplies high-energy X-ray devices for cargo screening and non-destructive testing applications. Varian Medical Systems employs approximately 6350 people who are located at manufacturing sites in North America, Europe, and China and approximately 70 sales and support offices around the world. For more information, visit http://www.varian.com or follow us on Twitter.
FOR INFORMATION CONTACT:
Varian Medical Systems, United States
Meryl Ginsberg, 650.424.6444
meryl.ginsberg@varian.com
SOURCE Varian Medical Systems