Varian Medical Systems and Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) Announce Collaboration on Motion Management for IMPT

BERGISCH-GLADBACH, Germany, April 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR) and Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) are announcing a collaboration to further advance motion management techniques for proton therapy. The multi-year agreement, aimed at optimizing treatment strategies for indications such as cancer in the lung, liver, pancreas and breast, will evaluate strategies using a 4-D treatment planning simulator developed by PSI.

Proton therapy involves the use of a controlled beam of protons to target tumors with higher levels of precision than is possible with other forms of radiation therapy, potentially limiting damage to healthy surrounding tissue.

The Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland is a pioneer in the development of Intensity Modulated Proton Therapy (IMPT) techniques, and specializes in the treatment of pediatric patients. "We hope to exploit our unique methods for simulating clinically realistic organ motions for the study of motion mitigation techniques for spot scanned proton therapy," says Professor Tony Lomax from PSI. "This project will utilize 4-D motion data sets and dose calculations that can uniquely model patient motion variations that are difficult to capture with conventional data sets."

"Varian's ProBeam™* proton system was developed in collaboration with the PSI," says Moataz Karmalawy, general manager of Varian's Particle Therapy division. "We are delighted to expand our partnership with this internationally respected institute to include the development of indications-specific solutions. This collaboration will support our customers in the fight against cancers that have not typically been treated with proton therapy in the past."

The ability to treat moving tumors is increasingly important for proton therapy facilities worldwide. "When testing motion mitigation techniques, it's important to have a tool that can simulate the timed dose delivery for realistic tumor cases to determine the relative merit of the different techniques," says Jan Timmer, marketing director for Varian Particle Therapy. "PSI has developed excellent software for 4-D treatment planning and we want to support its further development and the ongoing evaluation of motion management techniques."

*CE mark and international registrations pending for ProBeam. Not available for sale in all markets.

Editorial contact: Neil Madle, Varian Medical Systems, +44 7786 526068

About Varian Medical Systems
Varian Medical Systems, Inc., of Palo Alto, California, is the world's leading manufacturer of medical devices and software for treating cancer and other medical conditions with radiotherapy, radiosurgery, and brachytherapy. The company supplies informatics software for managing comprehensive cancer clinics, radiotherapy centers and medical oncology practices. Varian is a premier supplier of tubes and digital detectors for X-ray imaging in medical, scientific, and industrial applications and also supplies high-energy X-ray devices for cargo screening and non-destructive testing applications. Varian Medical Systems employs approximately 6,200 people who are located at manufacturing sites in North America, Europe, and China and approximately 70 sales and support offices around the world. For more information, visit http://www.varian.com or follow us on Twitter.

About Paul Scherrer Institute
PSI operates the first compact scanning gantry worldwide for proton radiation therapy of deep-seated tumors. The spot-scanning technique developed at PSI enables malignant tumors to be targeted with high precision deep inside in the body without damaging healthy tissue around the target area. By end of 2011, the PSI compact Gantry 1 had been used to treat more than 800 patients suffering from brain, skull-base or spinal cord tumors as well as abdominal sarcomas. Among the patients were more than 200 children and young people under the age of 20. PSI has treated children since 2004.

SOURCE Varian Medical Systems

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