With Elekta Studio, Elekta brings complete image-guided brachytherapy workflow to a single room
VEENENDAAL, November 19, 2020 – Elekta (EKTA-B.ST) today introduced Elekta Studio with its launch of the ImagingRing, an advanced interventional CT system that revolves around the patient and enables clinicians to conduct the entire brachytherapy workflow – including applicator / needle insertion, imaging, planning and treatment delivery – without moving the patient from room to room. Elekta Studio was designed to radically simplify the 3D image-guided adaptive brachytherapy workflow and increase patient comfort.
“As the centerpiece of Elekta Studio, the ImagingRing provides clinicians with the images they need at every step of the brachytherapy workflow,” says John Lapré, President, Elekta Brachytherapy Solutions. “These include high-quality images for treatment planning as well as low-dose images for guidance and quality assurance. The system was designed for interventional use and allows access to the patient at all times.”
The ImagingRing is mobile, so it can be transported throughout the hospital to any desired location. A conventional CT, whether stationary or mobile, cannot offer real-time imaging nor the access to the patient as the ImagingRing does with its sleek design.
With the ImagingRing, no time has to be spent moving the patient from the treatment table to the CT and back, so applicator displacement is avoided, increasing treatment accuracy and patient comfort. In addition, since the ImagingRing is at the heart of the Elekta Studio, system transport and waiting times for an imaging slot – such as for a traditional CT scan – are eliminated, thus accelerating the workflow.
Professor Vratislav Strnad, MD, is Head of Interventional Radiation Oncology at University Hospital Erlangen, one of Germany’s largest hospitals. The 1,400-bed facility receives approximately 500 patients annually for brachytherapy treatment.
Dr. Strnad says: “It will be very valuable to have a complete and optimal solution for image-guided brachytherapy immediately in the intervention room, ready to operate at any time. It’s a perfect result if high-quality imaging for brachytherapy can come to the patient and radiation oncologist, instead of the other way around. This results in more safety and more precision due to very low risk of applicator, catheter or needle displacement, greater patient comfort and less stress for the whole treatment team. Moreover, the entire treatment workflow will be accelerated by having all necessary equipment in a single room – making therapeutically potent, targeted brachytherapy an even more practical treatment option.”
John Lapré adds: “The most striking advantage of the ImagingRing is the spacious 121 cm bore diameter. The wide bore enables patient imaging in the lithotomy (“knees up”) position for the majority of brachytherapy cases – gynecological and prostate cancer patients.”
The ImagingRing product line was developed by medPhoton GmbH (Salzburg, Austria). Elekta has exclusive distribution rights for the mobile ImagingRing in brachytherapy. “On behalf of all at medPhoton, I’m very happy with the collaboration with Elekta,” says Heinz Deutschmann, CEO of medPhoton. “Many of us have a background in radiation oncology, where we’ve developed technology for adaptive image-guided solutions for years. It’s good to see that we’re closing the loop now, with the mobile ImagingRing coming to robotically assisted, image-guided brachytherapy.”
For more information, visit elekta.com/elektastudio
*Elekta Studio is comprised of multiple medical devices, some of which may not yet be available in all markets. Confirm availability with your local Elekta representative.
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About Elekta
For almost five decades, Elekta has been a leader in precision radiation medicine. Our more than 4,000 employees worldwide are committed to ensuring everyone in the world with cancer has access to – and benefits from – more precise, personalized radiotherapy treatments. Headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, Elekta is listed on NASDAQ Stockholm Exchange. Visit elekta.com or follow @Elekta on Twitter.
