September 18, 2007 – Varian Medical Systems has received FDA 510(k) clearance for a new high-definition multileaf collimator (MLC), the HD120 MLC, an ultra-fine beam shaping device for radiosurgery, optimized for targeting tumors and other abnormalities with high-dose stereotactic radiotherapy and radiosurgery.
The new HD120 MLC multileaf collimator enables clinicians to deliver extremely precise radiosurgical treatments, including intensity-modulated radiosurgery (IMRS), and will be included with the new Novalis Tx radiosurgery system that Varian is teaming up with BrainLab to offer.
The Novalis Tx offers a noninvasive alternative to conventional surgery for a wide spectrum of conditions, including benign and malignant tumors, metastatic cancer and neurological conditions like arteriovenous malformations, trigeminal neuralgia and acoustic schwannoma.
Varian’s new HD120 MLC multileaf collimator doubles the resolution of our best MLC, and is designed carrying out delicate intensity-modulated radiosurgeries near critical structures like the optic chiasm, brain stem or spinal cord.
The HD120 MLC has reduced the width of the central leaves from 5 millimeters wide to 2.5 millimeters, theoretically increasing the beam-shaping precision by 100 percent.
The new collimator also steeper dose fall-off gradient, so that the amount of dose delivered decreases rapidly outside the targeted area, protecting healthy tissues more effectively than is possible with earlier beam shaping devices.
For more information: www.varian.com