MIAMI BEACH, Fla., April 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR) will showcase RapidArc® Radiosurgery on the TrueBeam™ STx system—a highly precise and noninvasive way of excising tumors using carefully shaped high-energy X-ray beams—at the annual meeting of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) in Miami Beach later this week. Clinicians who are gaining early experience in the clinical use of RapidArc® Radiosurgery are finding that this approach can be performed quickly and accurately in the treatment of tumors of the brain, spine, thorax, and gastrointestinal tract.[1]
The TrueBeam STx system was engineered from the ground up for efficient, precise radiosurgery. Operating in High Intensity Mode, it can deliver treatments two to eight times faster than other radiosurgery systems.[2] "Intelligent" automation further speeds treatments with an up to five-fold reduction in the number of steps needed for imaging, positioning and treating patients, compared with earlier generations of technology. A high-definition multileaf collimator, or beam-shaping device, shapes the dose so that it closely matches the shape of the targeted tumor, in order to precisely carry out delicate radiosurgical procedures near critical structures like the optic chiasm, brain stem, or spinal cord.
On a TrueBeam system, sophisticated RapidArc radiosurgery procedures for spinal and brain lesions can be carried out within a standard 15-minute radiotherapy time slots, according to a recent paper by a team of radiation oncologists and neurosurgeons from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).[3] These are treatments that can take 45 minutes to an hour or longer using cobalt-based or robotic technology systems. "We're excited about presenting this information—and Varian's technology—to neurosurgeons from across the globe," said Calvin Huntzinger, senior director of surgical sciences at Varian.
"Linear accelerator radiosurgery has come a long way, matching and even surpassing what was possible with earlier generations of radiosurgery technology," said Antonio De Salles, M.D., Ph.D., professor of neurosurgery at UCLA, who will be among the speakers at an AANS seminar on stereotactic radiosurgery using advanced technologies like Varian's TrueBeam STx platform. "It has been exciting to see these capabilities evolve along with the technology, and become applicable for treating lesions not only inside the cranium, but in the rest of the body as well."
Note to editors: high resolution images of the TrueBeam system are available online at this URL: http://varian.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=31899&cat=2470&mode=gallery.
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 and digital detectors 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 5,900 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.
[1] RapidArc Radiosurgery bibliography, compiled by Varian Medical Systems in February, 2012, covering the use of RapidArc radiosurgery in the treatment of brain, spine, thoracic and gastrointestinal indications.
[2] [2]Clark GM et al. Plan quality and treatment planning technique for single isocenter cranial radiosurgery with volumetric modulated arc therapy. Practical Radiation Oncology 2012; January 30. Epub ahead of print. doi:10.1016/j.prro.2011.12.003.
[3] Prendergast B et al. Improved clinical efficiency in CNS stereotactic radiosurgery using a flattening filter free linear accelerator. Jour. Of Radiosurgery and SBRT. 2011 Nov-Dec; 1(2): 117-122.
FOR INFORMATION CONTACT:
Meryl Ginsberg , 650.424.6444
meryl.ginsberg@varian.com
SOURCE Varian Medical Systems