STOCKHOLM, April 5, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Elekta (EKTA-B.ST) today provided an update on the 11th meeting of the Elekta MR-linac Consortium, which was held March 22 – 24 at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester, UK. The four-day Consortium meeting was attended by 180 world-class researchers and clinicians from seventeen institutions, including the founding centers and 10 new ones. The Elekta MR-linac Consortium is a collaborative industrial-academic partnership that Elekta founded with seven centers and our technology partner, Philips in 2012 to provide an evidence-based introduction of the MR-linac to the medical community, and to support the advancement of the technology.

Elekta MR-linac is the only system that integrates an advanced linear accelerator with crystal-clear, high-field (1.5 Tesla) magnetic resonance imaging without compromising either system. It is the first system to achieve the technological feat of simultaneous radiation delivery and fast acquisition of high-quality, high-field MR images, providing the ability to "see what you treat" at the time of treatment and adapt treatments based on what is being seen. Elekta MR-linac enables truly personalized radiation therapy regimens that attack the tumor while sparing healthy tissue and has extraordinary potential for ushering in a new paradigm of cancer care.

"The enthusiasm of these world-class cancer institutions to the clinical implementation of the MR-linac reflects the belief that this breakthrough technology will address real unmet needs," said Joel Goldwein, Elekta's Sr. Vice President, Medical Affairs. "The results presented in the clinical sessions demonstrated both the MR-linac's current capabilities and its future potential. Substantial progress has been made developing the processes and protocols that will support Elekta MR-linac, not only as a technological tour-de-force but as the foundation for enabling magnetic resonance radiation therapy (MR/RT) as a transformative approach to cancer care."
With a focus on initiating new treatment paradigms rather than just engineering a new radiation delivery system, the Consortium is coordinating efforts to develop consistent parameters for the use of Elekta MR-linac for specific indications and anatomical regions. This year's Consortium meeting included anatomic district clinical sessions designed to harmonize the contouring of tumors, normal structures and dose constraints. For example, members of the breast and lung site groups worked together to ensure that the heart is consistently protected when the MR-linac is used for either of these indications.

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