During a live webcast countdown titled "the future of radiotherapy will be revealed," Elekta unveiled its new linear accelerator called Versa HD, which the company said is designed to improve patient care and treat a broader spectrum of cancers.

The new system incorporates the increased leaf speeds of Elekta's Agility MLC, which received U.S. Food and Drug Administration 510 (k) clearance in June 2012. Achieved through more individual tungsten "leaves" that shape beams of radiation being directed from various angles around the patient, the company said this technology allows the delivery of radiation to be more precisely targeted, therefore reducing the risk of exposure to healthy tissue.

According to Elekta, this will give clinicians the ability to deliver higher doses of radiation for a range of radiotherapy techniques including stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT) and volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT).

"Historically, MLC leaf speed has been a limiting factor in adopting high dose rate delivery. The leaves were often incapable of moving fast enough to provide advanced modulation with the increased dose rate," said Kevin Brown, global vice president of scientific research at Elekta. "With Versa HD, clinicians can now take full advantage of high dose rate delivery, and provide highly exquisite conformance with much greater efficiency."

Versa HD is still pending FDA 510(k) clearance.