New Clinical Capabilities
Proton therapy is a precise form of radiation therapy that has the potential to reduce the amount of radiation exposure in some cancers. The Mevion system at MedStar Georgetown includes HYPERSCAN™ pencil beam scanning (PBS) which improves on existing proton scanning capabilities enabling clinicians to deliver conformal fields faster and with more precision than in the past.
The HYPERSCAN system utilizes a novel technology, the Adaptive Aperture™, a proton multi-leaf collimator (pMLC), to achieve sharp lateral dose gradients. Multi-leaf collimators are common to conventional radiation therapy and were a key enabling technology to make intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) possible. Mevion’s Adaptive Aperture pMLC is unique to proton therapy. Designed to protect sensitive organs at every energy layer of the treatment, this new type of proton MLC enables a similar paradigm change in proton therapy.
Uptick in Global Adoption
In addition to MedStar Georgetown, the MEVION S250i™ system is under active installation at centers throughout the US and Europe. Two more HYPERSCAN centers will be treating patients by the end of 2018. An additional two centers are in the construction planning phase, both of which are instances of existing sites adding a second treatment room.
“We are excited to see the rapid adoption of Mevion’s HYPERSCAN technology,” said Yoel Bakas, senior vice president of sales for Mevion Medical Systems. “Proton therapy has long been viewed as economically unrealistic for most cancer centers. The uptick in proton projects and repeat customers speaks to the strength of the Mevion economic and clinical approach.”
Integration and Economics in Proton Therapy
At Medstar Georgetown, the proton system is integrated directly to the hospital as part of a renovation to the existing cancer center entrance. While other proton centers often have to be built as separate standalone facilities, the compact size of the Mevion system enables it to be integrated to existing radiation oncology departments. This can bring significant economic savings to these projects by enabling the centers to share existing support services and personnel throughout the hospital rather than duplicating them in a standalone facility.
Proton Therapy Symposium at ESTRO 37
Mevion will be hosting a luncheon symposium at the annual European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO) in Barcelona Spain on Saturday April 21st. Attendees are invited to come learn more about HYPERSCAN pencil beam scanning and compact Mevion proton therapy systems. A panel of speakers will be discussing the implementation of these projects and the clinical experiences of the HYPERSCAN system.
About Mevion Medical Systems®
Mevion Medical Systems, Inc. is a leading provider of proton therapy systems for use in radiation treatment for cancer patients. Mevion is based in Littleton, Massachusetts, with presence in Europe and China. For more information, please visit www.mevion.com.
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