Munich, Germany – July 19, 2010 – Technique Used to Treat Conditions Ranging in Complexity from Brain Metastases to Functional Disorders

While four in 10 clinicians use frameless radiosurgery exclusively to treat cranial indications, user data collected at the 5^th International Conference of the Novalis Circle, held last month in Munich, Germany, shows that there are still significant opportunities to increase utilization of the effective treatment approach.

While many theories exist as to why some clinicians have not expanded use of frameless radiosurgery in treating cranial indications, neurosurgeon Surbhi Jain, M.D., of the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., believes low utilization can be attributed to an overall lack of awareness as to the extent frameless radiosurgery can effectively treat even the most sensitive regions of the brain.

Dr. Jain resolved her initial concerns over the safety, effectiveness and accuracy of frameless radiosurgery through on-site visits to hospitals that adopted the technique. She began treating patients framelessly in January 2008 using the Novalis Tx^™ radiosurgery platform. In her 2010 independent study entitled, “Control of Brain Metastases in the Eloquent Brain Using Stereotactic Radiosurgery,” Dr. Jain compared the effectiveness of both framed and frameless radiosurgery. She found that metastatic tumors could be controlled as effectively framelessly as using the more invasive head frame, which must be secured to the skull and removed between treatments.

“We were extremely encouraged to find a non-invasive treatment that can produce a tumor control rate of 95 percent in an extremely sensitive part of the brain, which controls speech, motor function and senses,” said Dr. Jain. “The data validate frameless radiosurgery as a safe, precise approach to treatment and make a strong case for increased use among clinicians.”

Antonio De Salles, M.D., head of the Stereotactic Surgery Section at University of California – Los Angeles, and Joseph Chen, M.D., a neurosurgeon at Kaiser Permanente in Los Angeles, Cal., both made their transitions to frameless radiosurgery after conducting thorough scientific verifications of the precision of the technique. They have now widely adopted the technique and are applying protocols to treat more than 99 percent of their patients framelessly.

“Most neurosurgeons were taught to treat patients with the stereotactic frame, because of its perceived accuracy,” said Dr. De Salles. “Having treated nearly 1,000 patients with frameless radiosurgery over the past few years, I can say that the non-invasive approach is as safe and accurate as frame-based treatment because we are able to constantly monitor the positions of both the treatment beam and patient.”

Dr. De Salles and his team are so confident in frameless radiosurgery they treat patients with trigeminal neuralgia, which involves delivering highly-focused beams of radiation to a segment of the trigeminal nerve, measuring two to four millimeters long and less than a millimeter wide, where it exits the brain stem. Treatment with radiosurgery creates a lesion in the root of the nerve over time and interrupts the pain transmission.

Dr. Chen, a co-investigator of a 2009 study entitled, “Control of Brain Metastases Using Frameless Image-Guided Radiosurgery,” appreciates the treatment flexibility frameless radiosurgery can provide.

“The ability to decouple phases of the treatment process, like imaging, treatment planning and dose delivery, is very beneficial to both patients and clinicians. Because preparation work can be done prior to the day of treatment, patients are able to receive treatment in a time-efficient manner, which allows us to increase the volume of patients we see,” said Dr. Chen.

Dr. Jain is encouraged by the growth of frameless radiosurgery in treating brain metastases, but suggests that increased utilization could lead to an even greater impact on patients.

“We are seeing new applications of frameless radiosurgery emerging frequently, and our findings show that it is as effective, safe and accurate as the framed approach. As research continues to be released and treatment protocols are established and shared among members of the medical community, I hope that we can continue to increase the extent in which frameless radiosurgery impacts people’s quality of life,” she said.

Disclaimer: The study and results discussed herein are a result of an independent study. Brainlab did not participate in the study and had no impact on or control over the results.

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About Novalis Circle

The Novalis Circle is a worldwide network of clinicians dedicated to the advancement of radiosurgery. The International Conferences of the Novalis Circle are designed to encourage collaboration and knowledge exchange between Novalis^® radiosurgery users on cutting edge developments in radiosurgery. Novalis Circle members and guest experts present their findings from clinical studies on relevant topics in radiosurgery. The Novalis Circle was created by Brainlab and the Conference is held every two years.

About Brainlab
Brainlab develops, manufactures and markets software-driven medical technology that supports targeted, less-invasive treatment. Core products are image-guided systems and software that provide real-time information used for surgical navigation and radiosurgical planning and delivery.

Brainlab technology drives collaboration between hospitals and clinicians from a wide variety of subspecialties—from neurosurgery and oncology to orthopedics, ENT, CMF and spine & trauma. This integration delivers better access to improved and more efficient treatment.

Founded in 1989, the privately held Brainlab group has 4,880 systems installed in over 80 countries. Based in Munich, Germany, Brainlab employs 940 people in 16 offices worldwide.

To learn more, visit www.brainlab.com.

™Novalis Tx is a trademark of Varian medical Systems, Inc. and Brainlab AG

Contacts:

Jason Dananay
Porter Novelli

(312) 856-8828

jason.dananay@porternovelli.com

Rachel Hageli
Brainlab

(708) 486-1953

rachel.hageli@brainlab.com

Long-Time Partnership Expanded to Offer Advanced Radiosurgical Capabilities

Palo Alto, Calif., and Munich, Germany – June 29, 2010 – Varian Medical Systems (Varian) and Brainlab today announced the expansion of their partnership to incorporate Novalis technology and other Novalis^® Radiosurgery Program elements with the recently launched TrueBeam^™ STx system. The expanded suite of products will be badged “Novalis powered by TrueBeam STx.” The announcement was made at the 5^th International Conference of the Novalis Circle, a meeting of Novalis radiosurgery users that provides a platform for collaboration between clinicians to advance the field of radiosurgery, which was held in Munich June 17-19.

This expanded agreement is a natural extension of a relationship between the two companies that began in 1996, and grew with their collaboration around the Novalis Tx^™ radiosurgery platform, which launched in 2007. Novalis Powered by TrueBeam STx will give clinicians radiosurgical and image-guidance capabilities designed for targeted SRS and SBRT treatments. It will include Brainlab iPlan^® treatment planning and ExacTrac^® room-based x-ray imaging technology as well as Varian’s HD120 MLC multileaf collimator for high resolution beam shaping.

“TrueBeam STx technology will significantly enhance the Varian-Brainlab offering to the radiosurgery market with its significant speed and precision. The Novalis Radiosurgery Program includes a comprehensive package of clinical applications, workflow, knowledge base and training for radiosurgery,” said Dow Wilson, Executive Vice President; President, Oncology Systems, Varian Medical Systems, Inc.

The TrueBeam STx is specially configured for advanced radiosurgery and is designed to treat a moving target with unprecedented speed and accuracy. A TrueBeam system can deliver treatments up to 50 percent faster with a dose delivery rate of up to 2400 monitor units per minute, double the maximum output of earlier, industry-leading Varian systems. This makes it possible to offer greater patient comfort by shortening treatments, and to improve precision by leaving less time for tumor motion during dose delivery.

“Expanding our partnership with Varian to combine TrueBeam STx with the Novalis Radiosurgery Program gives us a stronger and broader platform for innovation in neurosurgery. We believe the combination of our leading technologies can help make significant clinical advancements in the fight against cancer and other neurological conditions. Our goal is to increase access to advanced treatment,” said Stefan Vilsmeier, CEO, Brainlab.

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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, proton therapy, 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 X-ray imaging products for cargo screening and industrial inspection. Varian Medical Systems employs approximately 5,000 people who are located at manufacturing sites in North America, Europe, and China and approximately 79 sales and support offices around the world. For more information, visit www.varian.com.

About Brainlab
Brainlab develops, manufactures and markets software-driven medical technology that supports targeted, less-invasive treatment. Core products are image-guided systems and software that provide real-time information used for surgical navigation and radiosurgical planning and delivery.

Brainlab technology drives collaboration between hospitals and clinicians from a wide variety of subspecialties—from neurosurgery and oncology to orthopedics, ENT, CMF and spine & trauma. This integration delivers better access to improved and more efficient treatment.

Founded in 1989, the privately held Brainlab group has 4,880 systems installed in over 80 countries. Based in Munich, Germany, Brainlab employs 940 people in 16 offices worldwide.

To learn more, visit www.brainlab.com.

Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology, is the first to secure Novalis Tx radiosurgery, a targeted and non-invasive[2]alternative to cancer surgery that can reduce patient treatment times to less than 20 minutes.

The futuristic technology will be housed at Clatterbridge’s new satellite centre in Liverpool, one of the city’s leading radiotherapy facilities, giving Merseyside residents improved access to this new cancer treatment.

Dr. Brian Haylock, Clinical Director for Radiotherapy at Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology, commented, “I am delighted that Liverpool will be the first city in the UK to offer this new radiosurgery technology, a highly-anticipated addition to our excellent cancer treatment options. Novalis Tx radiosurgery demonstrates our particular commitment at Clatterbridge to offer our patients the latest cancer treatments available. Liverpool residents will now benefit from fast and personalized radiosurgery treatment, close to home”

Explaining how the technology works he said, “Novalis Tx radiosurgery uses image-guidance tools that allow us to shape treatment around tumours or other abnormalities to help ensure that the prescribed dose is delivered, whilst protecting healthy tissue. Patients lie on a robotic treatment couch that moves, tilts and pivots in six degrees, to compensate for motion during treatment.”

“One of the key benefits of Novalis Tx radiosurgery for most patients is that it’s non-invasive[3], which helps avoid lengthy recovery periods and many of the complications often associated with conventional invasive surgery.

“In fact, this technology will allow will enable many patients to be treated as outpatients.”

The versatility of Novalis Tx radiosurgery makes it possible for doctors at the Centre to provide the treatment based on each patient’s specific needs. Treatment is delivered quickly so that patients spend minimal time immobilized on the treatment table.

“Fast treatments are easier on the patient,” said Clatterbridge Senior Research Radiographer Angela Heaton. “With Novalis Tx radiosurgery, treatments that would have taken up to an hour or more using other techniques can be completed in just minutes, with equal accuracy.”

The new £17m purpose-built facility, which will be situated at University Hospital Aintree, is on schedule for completion in 2010 and will be clinically operational by February 2011.

ENDS

Further information:

Novalis Tx radiosurgery is the latest development in non-invasive³ cancer care technology from Varian Medical Systems, Inc., and Brainlab. Novalis Tx radiosurgery rotates around the patient to deliver treatment beams anywhere in the body from virtually any angle. A set of sophisticated image guidance and motion management tools guide patient set up and positioning, and monitor motion during treatment. A computer-controlled, high-definition multi-leaf collimator shapes the treatment beam around the tumor, which helps ensure that the maximum prescribed dose is delivered to the entire tumor. Novalis Tx radiosurgery can be used to deliver frameless radiosurgery treatments for brain tumors and other abnormalities, a more patient-friendly alternative to techniques that require immobilization with a head ring that attaches to the skull.

About Clatterbridge Centre

Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology is one of the largest specialist cancer centres in the UK, with nearly 7,000 new patients registered each year. Based in Wirral, Merseyside they serve a population of 2.3 million across Merseyside, Cheshire, North Wales, the Isle of Man and South Lancashire. They deliver treatments to their patients through radiotherapy and chemotherapy services. They also have a sophisticated diagnostic imaging department and are one of only two sites to host the region’s PET:CT scanner (mobile unit). As one of the largest radiotherapy departments in the UK they deliver nearly 85,000 radiotherapy treatments a year. They also annually deliver 29,000 outpatient chemotherapy treatments and 2,000 admitted chemotherapy stays and host the regions Teenage and Young Adult Unit with the help of the Teenage Cancer Trust. Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology’s vision is to provide world class cancer care; to achieve this by putting people first, achieving excellence, being passionate about what they do, always improving their care and being committed to their future.

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, proton therapy, and brachytherapy. The company supplies informatics software for managing comprehensive cancer clinics, radiotherapy centres 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 X-ray imaging products for cargo screening and industrial inspection. Varian Medical Systems employs approximately 5,100 people who are located at manufacturing sites in North America, China, and Europe and in its 79 sales and support offices around the world. For more information, visit http://www.varian.com/.

About Brainlab

A pioneer in the field of radiosurgery, Brainlab develops, manufactures and markets software-driven medical technology that enables procedures that are more precise, less invasive, and also less expensive than traditional treatments. Among the core products are image-guided systems that provide highly accurate real-time information used for navigation during surgical procedures. This utility has been further expanded to serve as a computer terminal for physicians to more effectively access and interpret diagnostic scans and other digital medical information for better informed decisions. Brainlab solutions allow expansion from a single system to operating suites to digitally integrated hospitals covering all subspecialties from neurosurgery, orthopedics, ENT, CMF to spine & trauma and oncology. With more than 4,700 systems installed in over 80 countries, Brainlab is a market leader in image-guided technology. The privately held Brainlab group, founded in 1989, is headquartered in Munich, Germany and today employs 950 people in 16 offices across Europe, Asia, Australia, North and South America. For more information, visit Brainlab at www.brainlab.com.

Press enquiries: Sallyanne Jones

Contact: sjones@pegasuspr.co.uk  / 01903 821550

Issued by:          Pegasus Public Relations

[1] Manufactured by Varian Medical Systems and Brainlab

[2] Some doctors may opt for a minimally invasive headframe for certain treatments.

[3] Some doctors may opt for a minimally invasive headframe for certain treatments.

Broadcast Television

• The Today Show – the #1 rated morning news show in the US
• MSNBC – one of the top 3 all-news channels in the US

Consumer and Professional Print

• TIME – the #1 ranked news magazine in the US
• New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) – the world’s most-cited medical journal
• The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) – the world’s most widely circulated medical journal

Radio

• National Public Radio (NPR) – leading radio news resource that reaches 99% of US households

Online

• WebMD Consumer and Professional – Receives 10 million visitors monthly and is the #1 resource for physicians on medical devices
• NEJM – online advertising in tandem with NEJM publication

Directed at consumers, referring physicians, neurosurgeons and oncologists, the campaign is designed to build awareness of the benefits of cancer treatment with Novalis radiosurgery. The Brainlab media purchase is expected to deliver over 150 million impressions from the first run alone.

“Radiosurgery is an important treatment option for many patients who may need additional therapy and who have inoperable tumors or other conditions that can prevent the use of traditional cancer treatment methods,” said Trevor Earle, Product Line Director, Oncology, Brainlab. “The Novalis radiosurgery campaign will help generate awareness of and access to advanced treatment options, drive utilization to Novalis Radiosurgery Programs nationwide and increase physician referrals to Novalis radiosurgery experts and programs.”

To support the awareness campaign, simultaneous consumer and business-to-business public relations efforts will launch, strengthening the brand worldwide. In addition, pre- and post- awareness studies will be performed in the US around the first phase of the campaign to determine how brand awareness may have increased among target audiences and to provide a roadmap for future campaign efforts.

Facilities who offer the Novalis Radiosurgery Program as part of their cancer care portfolio, may take advantage of the Brainlab investment in their local markets with a professionally developed marketing portfolio including customizable television, print and online advertising.

“When people and their physicians are informed, confident and proactive, they get and give better care,” stated Karen Koziatek, Director of Creative and Brand Management. “The Novalis ‘Shaping Cancer Care Around You’ campaign does this with a clear message that connects consumers, physicians and hospitals to the brand and the technology it supports.”

To watch the “Shaping Cancer Care Around You” TV commercial and for more information on Novalis radiosurgery, visit www.ShapingCancerCare.com.

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About the Music
The music featured in the “Shaping Cancer Care Around You” campaign was written by Dean Fertita, an American rock musician and multi-instrumentalist. Formerly the lead singer and guitarist of The Waxwings, Fertita has toured as a keyboard player for Grammy nominated group, The Raconteurs. In 2007, he joined Queens of the Stone Age as the keyboardist. Most recently, Fertita is a member of alternative rock super group, The Dead Weather. He also released his debut solo album, Hello=Fire in 2009.

About Brainlab
Brainlab develops, manufactures and markets software-driven medical technology that enables procedures that are targeted, less invasive, and also less expensive than traditional treatments.

Among the core products are image-guided systems that provide real-time information used for navigation during surgical procedures. This utility has been further expanded to serve as a computer terminal for physicians to more effectively access and interpret diagnostic scans and other digital medical information for better informed decisions.

Brainlab solutions allow expansion from a single system to operating suites to digitally integrated hospitals covering all subspecialties from neurosurgery, orthopedics, ENT, CMF to spine & trauma and oncology. With more than 4,700 systems installed in over 80 countries, Brainlab is a market leader in image-guided technology.

The privately held Brainlab group, founded in 1989, is headquartered in Munich, Germany and today employs 950 people in 16 offices across Europe, Asia, Australia, North and South America.

For more information, visit Brainlab at www.brainlab.com.

“They were worried about causing irrevocable damage to the spinal nerves and other organs like my bladder and bowel,” Fry said. “My situation was very serious. The organs around the tumor couldn’t tolerate any more radiation, and so the treatments had to be focused very precisely. Honestly, this felt like my last shot at being treated. But as they were describing what Novalis Tx^™ can do, the clinicians at PAMF projected a positive, can-do attitude that really helped to restore my hopes for a positive outcome.”

Fry’s treatment was completed over a five-day period, in daily sessions that each took only about 20 minutes to complete. “After the first four sessions, I felt well enough to go back to work,” added Fry. “On the last day of treatment, which fell on a Saturday, I left the center and was able to go on with my usual weekend activities.”

Christina Crum, 44, was not having success with chemotherapy and her breast cancer had metastasized to multiple sites within her body. She then received a one week course of stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) via Novalis Tx^™ to treat a metastatic growth in her right lung, and later, treated another tumor on one of her ribs.

Crum maintained an active lifestyle during her treatments, stating, “I continued teaching my yoga and water aerobics classes all over Jacksonville (Florida)—sometimes even before and after treatment. Unlike traditional surgery, in my case radiosurgery didn’t lay me up at all. It was a great relief to know that another form of therapy was available that wouldn’t keep me from going on with my everyday life.”

“Christina’s treatments had to be especially precise,” said Dr. Sonja Schoeppel, radiation oncologist, Baptist Cancer Institute. “Her tissues and organs were extremely delicate due to earlier rounds of chemotherapy and radiation. Novalis Tx radiosurgery technology enables us to shape the beam with precision so we can avoid the surrounding anatomy. This has been great for Christina. Other treatment options just weren’t working for her.”

Over a year earlier, Sisco’s doctors had surgically removed about 60 percent of the AVM, but due to its proximity to the brain stem and other delicate blood vessels, chose to treat the remaining 40 percent using radiosurgery to direct a precisely sculpted beam at the AVM, in a treatment designed to avoid surrounding sensitive brain structures.

Sisco’s doctors gave him an entire year to recover after the initial surgery. “During that year, I was almost always light headed and exhausted. When I asked if I could go back to work, my doctors told me to forget about it,” said Sisco, who had built machines that make plastic bottles. “My experience with radiosurgery has been considerably better. After the treatment was over, I met my wife in the waiting room, and we went home.”

“Performing normal surgery a second time in this case was too high of a risk,” said Dr. Jim Chimenti, a Somerset Medical Center neurosurgeon. “Novalis Tx gave us the careful precision we needed, as we were able to spread the dose over the deep seated lesion while avoiding as much of the delicate brain tissue, near the AVM, as possible.”

Dr. Joel Braver, medical director of radiation oncology at Somerset Medical Center’s Steeplechase Cancer Center, said it will take around two years for Sisco’s AVM to completely dissolve following the radiosurgery procedure. “Compared to traditional surgery, there is no cutting or damage to the skull, or need for lengthy recovery associated with surgery,” said Braver. “John should be able to resume his normal activities, while the lesion slowly disappears, without a period of hospital convalescence. With Novalis Tx, he received an exceptional, highly accurate treatment and he’s doing extremely well.”

Namnoun’s radiation oncologist, Dr. Percy Lee, an assistant professor of radiation oncology at UCLA and the director of the stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) program, said her tumor presented challenges, but with the advanced technology available now, he believes she has a good prognosis. “With its advanced accuracy, the Novalis Tx radiosurgery platform will improve our therapeutic ratio between controlling the cancer and minimizing side effects,” said Lee, who is also a researcher with UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. “It provides us with daily verifications that we’re keeping our radiation beam to the intended tumor target. This is especially important because Beverly also has scleroderma, a systemic disease that may possibly pre-dispose her to more normal tissue radiation side effects.”

Donald Bickford, 71, a retired assembler of printing presses, was told that due to the weakened condition of his lungs, ordinary surgery was not an option for removing his lung tumor.

“I’m a long time smoker, and over time, my breathing capacity has been severely weakened,” said Bickford. “Thoracic surgeons told me that because of the poor condition of my lungs, I couldn’t handle any kind of surgical procedure. Thankfully for me, there was another treatment option.”

Wentworth-Douglass Hospital (Dover, N.H.) clinicians designed treatments to narrowly target his tumor while avoiding the delicate healthy lung tissues around it. To further ensure treatment accuracy, the Novalis Tx^™ radiosurgery platform optical and x-ray image-guidance technology was used to adjust for any tumor movement due to Bickford’s breathing during treatment. Clinicians completed Bickford’s full course of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) treatments in five days without the need for anesthesia or overnight hospital stays. On each of these days, Bickford was in and out of the hospital in a little more than an hour. Treatments were quick and painless. “I wasn’t really nervous. In fact, I didn’t feel a thing during the treatments,” said Bickford. “I’ve been feeling fine ever since.”

“It thrilled me, that we could complete her treatment one day, and send her flying off to Florida two days later,” said Dr. Kenneth Levin, who is the director of radiation oncology at Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital in Michigan. “Had we treated her with conventional surgery, we probably wouldn’t have been able to remove the whole tumor, because it was already impinging on her pelvic bone. She’d have been hospitalized and required general anesthesia, exposed to all the risks of surgery such as pain, bleeding and infection, and then she would have had to endure a period of recovery. We were able to avoid all that because we could offer her a specially-designed course of SBRT on the Novalis Tx^™ radiosurgery platform without ever making a single incision.”

“That’s a sign of an aggressive cancer,” Dr. Levin said. “It had to be treated. But this type of surgery is a tough proposition for anyone, let alone a man in his seventies; there’s a lot that can go wrong. We decided to treat it non-invasively, using Novalis Tx^™.”

The versatility of the Novalis Tx radiosurgery platform will make it possible for doctors at the Centre to offer the most appropriate form of treatment based on patients’ specific needs, from stereotactic radiosurgery—a very fast treatment designed to eradicate a tumour or lesion in a single session—to longer courses of image-guided radiotherapy, with lower-dose treatments spread out over more sessions.

Regardless of the type of treatment prescribed, the powerful Novalis Tx radiosurgery platform can deliver it quickly, so that patients spend little time immobilized on the treatment table. “Fast treatments are easier on the patient,” says Clatterbridge Senior Research Radiographer Angela Heaton. “It’s hard for anyone to hold still for long periods of time and movement can compromise treatment accuracy. With the Novalis Tx radiosurgery platform, treatments that would have taken up to an hour or more using other techniques can be completed in just minutes, with no compromise in accuracy.”

The robotic Novalis Tx radiosurgery platform comes complete with Varian’s RapidArc® capability for fast and effective radiotherapy and radiosurgery treatments. Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology was the first hospital in the UK to treat using RapidArc technology in December 2008.

“The Novalis Tx radiosurgery platform will allow us to treat more patients with stereotactic radiosurgery,” says Mr. Mohsen Javadpour, Consultant Neurosurgeon at The Walton Centre, Liverpool, which will be sharing the new system with Clatterbridge. “It can be used to treat tumours that are inoperable or when surgery presents too high a risk to the patient. This technology helps to deliver highly precise treatment to the tumour with minimal side effects while protecting the surrounding healthy tissue, so we are able to confidently address even the most complex conditions.”

The Novalis Tx radiosurgery platform combines a powerful linear accelerator, which rotates around the patient to deliver treatment beams from any angle with a set of advanced image guidance and motion management tools that guide patient set-up and positioning, and monitor motion during treatment. A high-definition multi-leaf collimator shapes the treatment beam so it matches the shape of the tumour from every angle. Other radiosurgery devices utilise circular beams to treat. As most lesions are irregular in shape, a circular dose does not completely cover the exact shape of the tumour. The Novalis Tx radiosurgery platform can be used to deliver frameless radiosurgery treatments, a more patient-friendly alternative to other systems that require immobilization with a head ring that attaches to the skull.

“Targeted beams are delivered without an incision from outside the body to destroy tumours or other abnormalities, so patients treated in this way can avoid lengthy recovery periods, and many of the complications often associated with conventional invasive surgery,” said Dr. Brian Haylock, Clinical Director for Radiotherapy at Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology. “Novalis Tx radiosurgery technology offers us unparalleled image guidance tools and treatment beam sculpting capabilities, so we can achieve a precise level of targeting to protect more of the patient’s healthy tissue during the procedure.”

The Novalis Tx radiosurgery platform also includes:

• Radiosurgery treatment planning software that allows an inter-disciplinary approach through a web-based network, so that consultant oncologists can easily confer with colleagues in neurosurgery.
• A 6D robotic treatment couch that moves in all three dimensions and also tilts and pivots providing more options for ultra-precise patient positioning.
• A comprehensive oncology information system that compiles patient data into one electronic medical record, eliminating the need for paper files and films.

Image-guided radiosurgery involves efficient delivery of precisely focused, high-energy radiation to a localized area to destroy tumours throughout the body that often cannot be addressed by conventional surgery, including some malignant and benign lesions, brain metastases, arteriovenous malformations, and other functional conditions such as trigeminal neuralgia.

About Clatterbridge Centre

Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology NHS Foundation Trust serves a population of 2.3 million covering Merseyside, Cheshire, North Wales, the Isle of Man and West Lancashire.

The Wirral-based Trust employs 650 staff and provides specialist radiotherapy and chemotherapy services and delivers more than 112,000 treatments to patients every year. Rehabilitation and support services are also provided and visiting medical and nursing teams deliver specialist cancer services across seven general hospitals in the region.

Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology’s vision is to provide word class cancer care; we will achieve this by putting people first, achieving excellence, being passionate about what we do, always improving our care and being committed to our future.

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, proton therapy, and brachytherapy. The company supplies informatics software for managing comprehensive cancer clinics, radiotherapy centres 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 X-ray imaging products for cargo screening and industrial inspection. Varian Medical Systems employs approximately 5,100 people who are located at manufacturing sites in North America, China, and Europe and in its 79 sales and support offices around the world. For more information, visit http://www.varian.com/.

About BrainLAB

A pioneer in the field of radiosurgery, BrainLAB develops, manufactures and markets software-driven medical technology, enabling more precise, less invasive procedures. Among the core products are image-guided systems and software that provide highly accurate real-time information used for surgical navigation and radiosurgical planning and delivery. BrainLAB systems and software are leveraged to provide clinicians with an information portal to more effectively access and interpret diagnostic scans and other digital medical information for better informed decisions. BrainLAB solutions allow for expansion from a single system to operating suites to digitally integrated hospitals, covering all subspecialties from neurosurgery, orthopedics, ENT, CMF to spine & trauma and oncology. With more than 4,600 systems installed in more than 80 countries, BrainLAB is a market leader in image-guided technology. The privately held BrainLAB group, founded in 1989, is headquartered in Munich, Germany, and today employs more than 950 people in 16 offices across Europe, Asia, Australia, and North and South America. For more information, please visit www.brainlab.com.