Hospital in Norway installs Varian On-Board Imager, other systems

Haukeland University Hospital, a leading cancer clinic in Norway, has acquired an On-Board Imager device and other systems from Varian Medical Systems enabling its clinicians to carry out more targeted cancer treatments.

The hospital is installing linear accelerators and a simulator along with treatment planning and information management software systems. As a result, the entire radiotherapy department is now automated, integrated and fully networked, Varian said.

The department's new On-Board Imager is enabling the clinicians to utilize image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) for the first time. Doctors now can generate radiographic, fluoroscopic and 3-D volumetric X-ray images of the patient's tumor and compare them with diagnostic reference images from the treatment plan to ensure that the patient's tumor is exactly aligned with the beam immediately prior to treatment. This enables radiographers to verify the tumor location while the patient is in the treatment position.

Around the web

Positron, a New York-based nuclear imaging company, will now provide Upbeat Cardiology Solutions with advanced PET/CT systems and services. 

The nuclear imaging isotope shortage of molybdenum-99 may be over now that the sidelined reactor is restarting. ASNC's president says PET and new SPECT technologies helped cardiac imaging labs better weather the storm.

CMS has more than doubled the CCTA payment rate from $175 to $357.13. The move, expected to have a significant impact on the utilization of cardiac CT, received immediate praise from imaging specialists.