FDA OKs new features for Varian's On-Board Imager

Varian Medical Systems Inc. says it has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration 510(k) clearance for a new suite of features that have been added to the company's On-Board Imager system for Clinac and Trilogy medical linear accelerators (linacs).

Varian's On-Board Imager is an automated system for image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) and enables clinicians to obtain high-resolution digital images to pinpoint tumor sites, adjust patient positioning and complete a treatment. The FDA-approved capabilities make its On-Board Imager the first linac-based kV x-ray digital imaging system that can synchronize image acquisition with a patient's respiratory cycle and automate "marker matching" for more precise tumor targeting, according to Varian.

The new On-Board Imager features encompass automated tumor marker detection and monitoring and gating for tumor motion.

First cleared by the FDA in February of this year, Varian's On-Board imager has been installed at Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm, Sweden; Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia; the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, Michigan; and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. Varian said an additional 46 units are slated for installation at cancer centers worldwide.

Around the web

Richard Heller III, MD, RSNA board member and senior VP of policy at Radiology Partners, offers an overview of policies in Congress that are directly impacting imaging.
 

The two companies aim to improve patient access to high-quality MRI scans by combining their artificial intelligence capabilities.

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