New Varian Cancer Treatment Platform Draws Large Crowds at ESTRO 36 Tradeshow

"The reception Halcyon received at the unveiling, and from attendees coming to the booth has been tremendous," said Kolleen Kennedy, president of Varian's Oncology Systems business. "People have been impressed in the simplicity of the design and how we have automated the system to make it easy for therapists, physicists and physicians to deliver high quality treatments around the world."

"I was pleased to be present at the ESTRO unveiling of Varian's new treatment system," said Professor Gabriela Studer, head of radiotherapy at Kantonsspital in Lucerne, Switzerland. "There seems to be a great deal of interest in the Halcyon system, which we believe could add to the speed and efficiency of advanced, image-guided radiotherapy treatments at our hospital."

With its streamlined workflow, Halcyon only requires nine steps from the start to the end of treatment compared to up to more than 30 steps with older technologies nearing end of life. Halcyon is well suited to handle the majority of cancer patients, offering advanced treatments for prostate, breast, head & neck, and many other forms of cancer.

Featuring a 100cm gantry opening, which is larger than those on standard CT machines, Halcyon is capable of rotations 4x faster than c-arm gantries for rapid imaging and treatment. The system is also capable of fast and sharp volumetric imaging in as little as 15 seconds. With Halcyon treatments, a complex image guided IMRT plan is clinically accelerated compared to those delivered on traditional devices.

To assist in the reduction of time and construction costs from installation to first patient treatment, Halcyon comes pre-commissioned, requires less shielding than traditional systems, can fit in a vault as small as 5.9 meters (19.68 feet) x 5.539 meters (18.17 feet) x 2.743 meters (8.99 feet) high and can be installed in two weeks or less.

As part of its human-centered, user-friendly design, large touchscreens are installed on both sides of the machine to assist in easy patient set-up. For increased patient comfort, Halcyon is up to 2x quieter than other systems, has a low couch height for easy patient access, and soft indirect ambient lighting in the gantry opening. To create a closer connection between patient and therapist during Halcyon treatment, the system includes an integrated couch-mounted camera for the therapist to watch over the patient during treatment, and an integrated sound system that makes it easy for patients to converse with the therapists.

The treatment planning for Halcyon is supported by Varian's Eclipse^™ treatment planning software and is 510(k) pending. Halcyon has received CE mark and is currently 510(k) pending and not for sale in all markets.

For more information on Halcyon visit www.varian.com/halcyon.

About Varian Medical Systems

Varian Medical Systems focuses energy on saving lives and is the world's leading manufacturer of medical devices and software for treating and managing cancer. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Varian employs approximately 6,400 people around the world. For more information, visit http://www.varian.com and follow @VarianMedSys on Twitter.

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Varian Medical Systems
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Varian Medical Systems 
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SOURCE Varian Medical Systems

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