From the October 2021 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine


"The Australian government is currently funding 50 patients per year to travel to the U.S. for proton therapy treatment," Spotts said. "A proton therapy center in Australia will make treatment available to many more Australians and New Zealanders, without the need to travel to other countries."

ProTom has also signed a distribution and licensing agreement with Guohong Guokang (Beijing) Health Technology Development Co. Ltd. (GHGK) to distribute the Radiance 330 system in mainland China.


"This cooperation marks that ProTom will closely work with GHGK to actively expand markets in China and the surrounding area," Spotts said. "This signing also signifies the continuing international expansion for ProTom as a significant proton therapy system provider in the worldwide market."

Varian, a Siemens Healthineers Company
Late last year, Varian Medical Systems began treating the first patient in the world with proton FLASH therapy during the start of the first human clinical trial at Cincinnati’s Children’s/UC Health Proton Therapy Center.

As part of the research into the new therapy method, which delivers radiation treatment at ultra-high dose rates, Varian has introduced its FLASH Research Extension (FLEX) Toolkit, allowing facilities to adapt the company's ProBeam proton therapy system into a preclinical FLASH research lab.

The FLEX research solution provides dose monitoring without the need for external systems or readout setups, as the systems aren’t designed to count flash dose rate, said Adam Earwicker, director of market development for FLASH at Varian.

“It’s a new space for Varian,” Earwicker said. “We’re releasing research products in response to the excitement around FLASH research.”

The company plans to release similar tools for its linear accelerators, as well as tools for treatment planning.

RADIATION THERAPY

Accuray
Early this year, Accuray launched ClearRT, helical kVCT imaging on the Radixact system.

The system, which comes with a large, 50-centimeter transverse by 135-centimeter axial field of view, is designed to produce near-diagnostic-quality images at a high speed, cutting the time to produce a typical 3D volumetric image from four minutes to less than 30 seconds, said Corey Lawson, vice president of product strategy at Accuray.

“Because of the clarity of the imaging, clinicians are able to set up their patients much more easily and faster than before, and use those images in adaptive workflows, including dose monitoring and re-planning,” Lawson said.

October 2021 Magazine

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