Varian scores Belgian install

Ghent University Hospital in Ghent, Belgium, will acquire RapidArc technology from Varian Medical Systems for modulated arc therapy treatments.

The hospital, which has developed its own intensity modulated arc therapy planning system, has carried out such treatments on prostate and gynecological cancer patients for several years. There are now plans to extend such treatments to other sites, according to Varian.

The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company said the Clinac iX, equipped with its RapidArc technology, is due to be installed at the hospital in October. RapidArc treatments are planned to commence in spring 2009.

Around the web

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.

The newly cleared offering, AutoChamber, was designed with opportunistic screening in mind. It can evaluate many different kinds of CT images, including those originally gathered to screen patients for lung cancer. 

Trimed Popup
Trimed Popup