Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR) has been awarded a contract to supply four TrueBeam™ treatment systems to Lund University Hospital in Sweden, one of the country's largest radiotherapy departments. The order, confirmed in September, is aimed at cutting treatment waiting lists in the Skane region of Sweden and includes an option to acquire two further TrueBeam systems in 2014.
The TrueBeam devices will replace treatment machines from a rival manufacturer and Varian's ARIA software suite is replacing the incumbent software, as Lund University Hospital and its partner site at Malmo University – which combined under the banner Skane University Hospital last year - switch to an integrated, single-vendor environment.
"We are looking to offer fast and advanced radiotherapy treatments at Lund and Varian was selected because it fulfils our quality demands," says lead radiation oncologist Dr. Thomas Bjork-Eriksson. "We need machines that can deliver very conformal radiotherapy in a fast and safe way, enabling us to offer advanced techniques such as RapidArc® volumetric radiotherapy and stereotactic radiosurgery.
"This region currently has waiting lists for radiotherapy of four to eight weeks and we want to reduce that to less than two weeks," adds Dr. Bjork-Eriksson. "We believe our new equipment and software will enable us to work towards that target. We want to treat more patients more quickly while offering them very advanced treatments. We would also like to become a part of the Region Orestad radiation therapy centers for treatment, research and development, which are mostly equipped with Varian systems."
The four TrueBeam machines, to be installed in 2012, will replace two older linear accelerators and increase the number of linear accelerators by two more initially at Lund University Hospital, while the two optional systems will be a further expansion in current capacity. Lund University Hospital recently merged with Malmo University Hospital, which has a TrueBeam and two Clinac® iX accelerators from Varian. Combined, the two hospitals treat 4000 patients per annum and the intention is to increase this to 5500 with the new equipment.
Varian's TrueBeam was introduced for fast, precise treatment of tumors, including those that move during treatment as the patient breathes during dose delivery. Designed to enhance the treatment of lung, breast, prostate, head and neck, and other types of cancer, TrueBeam features a multitude of technical innovations that dynamically synchronize imaging, patient positioning, motion management, and treatment delivery. With its High Intensity Mode, TrueBeam can deliver very high doses quickly and accurately, more than twice as fast as earlier generations of technology.
"This is an extremely ambitious project by one of Sweden's leading cancer hospitals to completely replace its existing treatment systems and software," says Soeren Moeller, Varian's Scandinavian sales manager. "We're looking forward to working closely with the team at Lund to enable them to offer fast and precise radiotherapy treatments to their patients."
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