19 Sep 2007 03:00 AM
Varian Medical Systems Receives FDA 510(k) Clearance For High-Definition Collimator That Enables Ultra-Fine Intensity-Modulated Radiosurgery
Varian Medical Systems and BrainLAB Join
Forces to Introduce Novalis Tx(R)).
The Novalis Tx offers a non-invasive alternative to conventional surgery for a wide spectrum of conditions, including benign and malignant tumors, metastatic cancer, and neurological conditions like arteriovenous malformations, trigeminal neuralgia, and acoustic schwannoma.
"Successful irradiation of these types of abnormalities depends on doctors' ability to deliver a high dose of radiation with the precision of a surgical strike, sparing the surrounding tissues," said Calvin Huntzinger, MS, marketing and engineering manager for Varian's Surgical Sciences product line. "Varian's new HD120 MLC multileaf collimator doubles the resolution of our best MLC, so it is ideal for carrying out delicate intensity-modulated radiosurgeries near critical structures like the optic chiasm, brain stem, or spinal cord."
A multileaf collimator is a device with many computer-controlled mechanical "leaves" or "slats" that continually shape the treatment beam as the radiation is delivered from different angles around the patient. Prior to the new HD120 MLC multileaf collimator, Varian's finest MLC had a central group of beam-shaping leaves that were each 5 millimeters wide. The HD120 MLC has reduced the width of the central leaves to just 2.5 millimeters, increasing the beam-shaping precision by 100 percent.
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The Novalis Tx offers a non-invasive alternative to conventional surgery for a wide spectrum of conditions, including benign and malignant tumors, metastatic cancer, and neurological conditions like arteriovenous malformations, trigeminal neuralgia, and acoustic schwannoma.
"Successful irradiation of these types of abnormalities depends on doctors' ability to deliver a high dose of radiation with the precision of a surgical strike, sparing the surrounding tissues," said Calvin Huntzinger, MS, marketing and engineering manager for Varian's Surgical Sciences product line. "Varian's new HD120 MLC multileaf collimator doubles the resolution of our best MLC, so it is ideal for carrying out delicate intensity-modulated radiosurgeries near critical structures like the optic chiasm, brain stem, or spinal cord."
A multileaf collimator is a device with many computer-controlled mechanical "leaves" or "slats" that continually shape the treatment beam as the radiation is delivered from different angles around the patient. Prior to the new HD120 MLC multileaf collimator, Varian's finest MLC had a central group of beam-shaping leaves that were each 5 millimeters wide. The HD120 MLC has reduced the width of the central leaves to just 2.5 millimeters, increasing the beam-shaping precision by 100 percent.
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