Varian Medical Systems (VAR) is a manufacturer of medical technology for treating cancer and other medical conditions with radiotherapy, brachytherapy, and radiosurgery. The company also supplies X-ray tubes and digital image detectors for imaging in medical, scientific, and industrial applications. Its high-energy imaging systems are also used for screening cargo. Varian operates businesses in several areas: Oncology Systems, X-ray Products, and Security and Inspection Products Group.

The company announced this week that, by using the company’s RapidArc™ radiotherapy technology, two prostate cancer patients – the first people in New York – were able to receive a faster, more comfortable form of highly accurate radiotherapy in pioneering treatments at Radiation Oncology Associates of New York. The clinic is the largest freestanding radiation oncology practice in New York, with facilities in Long Island and surrounding New York City boroughs and counties. Doctors at the clinic, which will soon change its name to Advanced Radiation Centers of New York, are delivering image-guided, intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) two to eight times faster than earlier technologies.

Two patients have begun receiving RapidArc treatments, delivered in less than two minutes and completed in two simple steps. First, clinicians capture a set of high-resolution X-ray images of the targeted tumor and surrounding anatomy and use these to position the patient for treatment. Then, once the patient has been positioned properly, RapidArc delivers the prescribed dose in less than two minutes with a single rotation of the treatment machine around the patient. Dr. Shawn Zimberg, medical director for Radiation Oncology, stated, “RapidArc enables us to quickly deliver IMRT treatments that are designed to target tumors and malignancies very precisely while dramatically reducing the exposure of surrounding tissues.”

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