Elekta’s VMAT radiation therapy receives FDA 510(k)
Elekta (published 16/06/2008)
Elekta’s VMAT solution has received FDA 510(k) clearances that will allow US cancer specialists to both plan and deliver radiation using a technique which has the potential to boost the practice of radiation oncology.
From the patient's perspective, Elekta VMAT (Volumentric intensty Modulated Arc Therapy) combines a significant reduction in treatment time with optimal avoidance of radiation dose to healthy tissues surrounding the tumour.
From the doctor's perspective, the reduction in treatment time makes it much easier to accurately target the tumour and the improved dose sparing offers new options to either increase dose to tumour or reduce side effects and therefore potentially improve outcomes. For the clinic administrator, reduced treatment times and the opportunity to increase dose and reduce the number of treatment sessions increases the number of patients that can be treated using their existing equipment.
Elekta is positioned to introduce the VMAT technique by virtue of Elekta Synergy, the only fully digital linear accelerator with integrated high-resolution 3D X-ray Volume Imaging (XVI). With daily pre-treatment imaging scans, clinicians who implement Elekta VMAT will be able to maximize accuracy and shrink treatment margins, while minimizing the possibility of damage to surrounding healthy tissue.
“Over ten years of research in collaboration with members of the Elekta IMRT Consortium has led to this unique series of innovations”, explained Tomas Puusepp, president and chief executive officer of Elekta. “Having the worlds only fully digital accelerator is a key element in making this level of automation and control complexity possible in a way that allows clinicians to deliver advanced treatments with a single push of a button. Interest from clinicians in this technology is very high and we believe that VMAT will be the next major technology shift following the introduction of intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) around the millennium and the subsequent introduction of image guided radiation therapy (IGRT)”, concluded Tomas Puusepp.
