ViewRay earns NorTech Innovation Award for advancements in cancer radiation therapy technology

ViewRay, Inc., a privately held medical device company, has earned a NorTech Innovation Award for its advancements in radiation therapy technology for the treatment of cancer. ViewRay was honored for its unique combination of medical imaging and radiotherapy, which is designed to improve the effectiveness of cancer treatments. Radiation therapy is used to treat nearly two-thirds of today's cancer patients.

While radiation has proven critical in the fight against cancer, current radiotherapy technology has a major shortcoming: because patients' internal organs may shift during treatment, clinicians cannot determine precisely where the radiation is going in a patient's body. Organ motion may be significant enough to cause the radiation to miss the target and unnecessarily irradiate healthy tissue. To solve this problem, ViewRay is using a new combination of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and radiotherapy technology. The ViewRay system is being designed to allow clinicians to see where the radiation is delivered inside the patient moment by moment during the treatment, potentially reducing side effects and improving treatment success for patients with many different kinds of cancer. The ViewRay system is now in the final stages of development.

"It is a great honor to be recognized by NorTech," said ViewRay president and CEO Greg Ayers, MD, PhD. "Millions of people around the world die from cancer every year, and innovations in diagnostics and treatment are critical. We have studied the motion of tumors in lung, liver, prostate and other types of cancer, and we believe there's an opportunity for ViewRay technology to significantly improve treatments for many patients."

The NorTech Innovation Awards, sponsored by the Northeast Ohio Technology Coalition and Crain's Cleveland Business, annually recognize businesses and other organizations that transform technical and scientific knowledge into novel products, services and processes that result in a positive economic impact. For more information on the award program, visit http://www.crainscleveland.com.