Varian Medical Systems

July 23, 2010 – A new system for image-guided radiotherapy and radiosurgery was exhibited for the first time earlier this week at the 2010 meeting of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM). Varian’s TrueBeam is a fully-integrated system designed to treat moving tumors with a high level of speed and accuracy.

The most difficult challenge in external beam radiation therapy is the ability of doctors to accurately deliver high doses of radiation to a moving tumor without damaging the surrounding healthy tissue.

May 18, 2010 - Proton beam therapy is becoming more accessible in the United States.

While proton beam therapy has proved to be more precise in delivering dose to tumors compared to conventional external beam radiation, the larger proton beam accelerator is more expensive, and the process requires special training.

April 21, 2010 - Tracking tumor motion is one of the biggest challenges in radiation therapy. Gating is of the most sophisticated techniques for tracking tumors on moving organs and sparring surrounding healthy tissue. Respiratory gating allows the clinicians to adjust and turn off the beam when the tumor is out of range.

April 14, 2010 - One of the biggest challenges in radiation therapy is delivering the dose without damaging surrounding healthy tissue. This is particularly difficult with tumors that move due to patient respiration. A new motion management system is designed to monitor and adjust for tumor motion during standard treatment and respiratory gating treatment.