DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, for the first time in Ireland, cancer patients can receive Novalis Radiosurgery treatment, with the opening of the Stereotactic Unit at St. Luke’s Radiation Oncology Centre at Beaumont Hospital. The technology, developed by Brainlab, offers new hope for cancer patients, many of whom have tumours that have been deemed inoperable. Novalis Radiosurgery delivers precise, painless, treatment, often in a single visit.
The Novalis® Radiosurgery technology makes it possible for doctors to treat patients with many types of tumours including cranial, spinal, head & neck, lung, liver and prostate as well as arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) and trigeminal neuralgia. Combining a highly precise patient positioning system with sophisticated treatment planning software, the Novalis Radiosurgery technology helps clinicians destroy cancerous cells while helping to protect surrounding healthy tissue. Treatment can also be made more patient-friendly by delivering frameless radiosurgery for brain tumours, an alternative to techniques that require immobilisation with an invasive head ring* fixed to the skull.
The Novalis Radiosurgery technology is based at the St Luke's Radiation Oncology Centre at Beaumont hospital, Dublin. Dublin joins a growing number of Novalis Radiosurgery Cancer Centres throughout Europe with only three centres available in the UK. This group of centres can share experiences and treatment techniques in their joint fight against cancers of the brain and body.
At the core of the Programme lies interdisciplinary collaboration between radiation therapy experts and critical subspecialties like neurosurgery, ENT and craniomaxillofacial (CMF) surgery. The combined technology - positioning system, treatment planning software, linear accelerator - offers high precision and expands the range of treatment possibilities when compared to conventional options and methods.
Stefan Vilsmeier, President and CEO, Brainlab, said “Novalis Radiosurgery is a precise, non-invasive and versatile radiosurgery treatment available for cancerous and non-cancerous conditions of the entire body. The Novalis Radiosurgery Programme can give clinicians the ability to treat patients with cancers once considered untreatable and those for whom surgery is not an option, such as tumours deep in the brain. We are proud and pleased that patients in Ireland can now benefit from the technology.”
Novalis Radiosurgery offers an alternative or complement to other therapies. More than 300 hospitals worldwide use Novalis Radiosurgery and benefit from the experience of over a million treatments. The Programme provides patients across the globe access to what has become a standard in radiosurgery and stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT).
* Some doctors may opt for a minimally invasive head frame depending on the specific treatment and patient.
® registered trademark of Brainlab AG in Germany and the US
ENDS
Notes to Editors
About Brainlab
Brainlab develops, manufactures and markets software-driven medical technology, enabling access to improved, more efficient, less-invasive patient treatments.
Core products revolve around less invasive image guided surgery technology, more accurate and effective radiation therapy, and integration through planning and collaboration systems that bring patient data and physicians together.
Brainlab technology currently powers treatments in the fields of neurosurgery, radiation oncology, orthopedics, ENT, CMF, spine, and trauma.
Privately held since its formation in Munich, Germany in 1989, Brainlab has more than 5,000 systems installed in about 80 countries. Brainlab employs 1,120 people in 17 offices worldwide, including 290 Research & Development engineers, who form a crucial part of the product development team.
To learn more, visit www.brainlab.com.
About Radiosurgery
Radiosurgery is a medical procedure that uses non-invasive, highly precise radiation beams, often in one single session, to destroy or shrink tumours that could otherwise be inaccessible for traditional open surgery. It is also known as stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT) when used to target tumours in the brain, and stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) when used to target tumours in the body.
In addition to cancer, radiosurgery is also shown to be beneficial for the treatment of non-cancerous conditions, including disorders such as arteriovenous malformations (AVMs), which are an abnormal connection between veins and arteries that can be dangerous when occurring in the brain. Radiosurgery is an established medical procedure and was first developed in 1951.