Medicine
| A new cancer treatment shows great promise as an alternative cancer surgery. The Edge Radiosurgery Suite offers an equal or greater accuracy level in targeting tumors, but with the ability to treat multiple tumors simultaneously. |
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n exciting new cancer treatment has been developed that shows great promise as an alternative cancer surgery. The Edge Radiosurgery Suite offers an equal or greater accuracy level in targeting tumors, but with the ability to treat multiple tumors simultaneously and with greater comfort to patients.
High Precision
The Edge Radioactive Suite is able to perform cutting edge, non-invasive procedures on any part of the body--including the brain, head and neck, spine, adrenal gland, pancreas, liver, and lung—with a high degree of precision and very low toxicity. The Edge, developed by Varian Medical Systems, employs tumor tracking capability in real time to improve safety and comfort for patients. The technology is safer and more comfortable because of the precise way it targets tumors, while sparing healthy surrounding tissue.
Targeted Treatment
Stereotactic radiation delivers a precision dose of intense radiation to targeted tumors in up to five treatments. The goal is to render the tumor inactive or destroyed, while minimizing exposure to healthy, neighboring tissue. The Edge offers patients faster treatment using dose rates up to 2,400 monitor units each minute. It also delivers rapid stereotactic treatments in only 15 minutes, in contrast to other techniques that may take over one hour per session.| Related articles |
Greater Patient Comfort
Increased comfort for patients is achieved using a six degrees of freedom treatment couch and offering the flexibility and precision to precisely adjust and position patients. An imaging specialist with a degree in Radiology says the Edge has an advanced imaging system which compensates for any tumor movement in the course of the treatment. Additionally, the Edge can do most of what a proton beam treatment method is able to do, at a fraction of the cost.Test Driving the System
Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit was the first in North America to have the Edge. The hospital tested the procedure by comparing it to frame-based radiosurgery systems. All components of the system were utilized to localize targets. The study found that the locational accuracy was inside 0.9 mm for one target and 1.2 mm for multiple targets.The Edge is a novel platform for radiosurgery that offers a technique for providing a completely integrated solution for administering and planning radiosurgery treatments. Since accuracy matters greatly in this field, The Edge suite is groundbreaking in calibrating for sub-millimeter accuracy and precisely targeting cancerous tumors, while leaving surrounding healthy tissue untouched. The result is a lower-cost treatment that also reduces patient recovery times.
| By Emma Sturgis | Embed |
Author Bio - Emma is a freelance writer currently living in Boston, MA. She writes most often on education and technology. When not writing, she enjoys watching old movies and indoor rock climbing.
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