July 21, 2009 - Varian Medical Systems has received FDA 510(k) clearance for the Acuros capability offered initially in its brachytherapy treatment planning system, which will be on display at the annual meeting of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) at Anaheim, Calif., from July 26-30.
The Acuros clearance was awarded as part of the Eclipse treatment planning system. BrachyVision Acuros, recently introduced at the American Brachytherapy Society meeting in Toronto, Canada, enables superior dose calculation at unmatched speed. The system enables clinicians to rapidly calculate patient dose with an extremely high level of accuracy*.
BrachyVision Acuros calculation times tend to average between three and eight minutes depending on the applicator used compared to hours or days using the standard Monte Carlo method, reported to Hosea Mitchell, head of Varian's brachytherapy business unit.
Varian is working exclusively with Transpire Inc., developers of Acuros, to bring this calculation method to the radiation oncology field.
Varian Medical Systems, the world leader in radiotherapy, is currently working to integrate the Acuros module into its Eclipse product for external beam radiotherapy treatment planning.
*Compared to standard techniques using the American Association of Physicists in Medicine TG43 formulism.
For more information: www.varian.com