Varian scores RapidArc, Novalis Tx install in Switzerland

Sarah Lamberti | | Health Imaging | Oncology Imaging
A 51-year-old female cancer patient from Switzerland has become the first patient outside the U.S. to be treated with RapidArc radiotherapy technology on a Novalis Tx platform for radiosurgery and radiotherapy from Varian Medical Systems.

Doctors at Inselspital, the Bern University Hospital, used the Novalis Tx platform from Varian and BrainLAB to treat a patient suffering simultaneous skin cancer of the nose and an aggressive nasopharyngeal cancer with image-guided intensity modulated radiotherapy.

Rather than targeting tumors with radiation beams from fixed angles, the Novalis Tx unit with RapidArc capability continuously rotates around the patient performing radiotherapy or radiosurgery, according to the Palo Alto, Calif.-based Varian. The Novalis Tx platform includes an On-Board Imager device for pinpointing the tumor and positioning the patient with millimeter precision. The platform's ExacTrac room-based image-guidance system provides continual imaging during treatment to detect movement and support robotic adjustments in patient positioning.



Sarah Lamberti

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