First Patient Treatments on an Elekta Linear Accelerator with Fully Integrated Brainlab ExacTrac X-Ray

Brainlab, a global developer of software-driven medical technology, today announced first patient treatments on a fully integrated radiation oncology solution that combines the imaging power of ExacTrac® patient positioning with the delivery precision of the Elekta Versa HD™ linear accelerator (LINAC). Working in synergy, these state-of-the-art technologies determine positioning and treatment accuracy for cancer patients.

By streamlining treatment workflow, ExacTrac and Versa HD increase patient positioning efficiency and provide a highly accurate solution for frameless stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and stereotactic body radiotherapy treatment (SBRT). The accuracy is further enriched with the ability to detect and manage intra-fractional patient motion during treatment delivery.

The integrated ExacTrac/Versa HD solution is currently in routine clinical use at Ludwig-Maximilian University Hospital in Munich, which is ranked one of the top five medical institutions in Europe and #29 worldwide*. To date, the hospital has treated 12 patients with a range of indications and has plans to expand their ExacTrac/Versa HD program.

“Ludwig-Maximilian University Hospital in Munich prides itself on offering advanced technology and finding new ways to optimize our existing infrastructure. Combining these innovative cancer treatment technologies – Brainlab ExacTrac and Elekta Versa HD – allows us to maximize the benefits of both systems for our patients, including intra-fractional verification,” said Professor Claus Belka, Director of Radiotherapy and Radiation Oncology, Ludwig-Maximilian University Hospital, Grosshadern and Innenstadt clinics and polyclinics. “The integrated solution allows us to perform SRS and SBRT cases with submillimetric accuracy and the seamless workflow has allowed us to provide comfortable and fast treatment for patients.”

ExacTrac and Versa HD enable treatment of conventional as well as complex cancers that require highly accurate targeting precision, expanding the reach and richness of SRS and SBRT for facilities looking to leverage resources and deliver advanced, sophisticated therapies across several different LINACs. With its initial clinical success, the Brainlab/Elekta solution is now being sought after by hospitals around the globe, reaffirming market preference for ExacTrac across several LINAC systems.

With more than 700 installations worldwide, ExacTrac is a field-proven system used by radiation therapy technologists, medical physicists and radiation oncologists to perform precise patient positioning and monitoring in the treatment of tumors in the brain and body. ExacTrac offers sub-millimetric positioning precision and, used with a non-invasive stereotactic mask system, has revolutionized frameless SRS.

“At a time when there is a significant emphasis being placed on fiscal prioritization at hospitals and clinics around the world, Brainlab is helping to provide doctors and administrators with flexible configurations for new or existing LINAC technology that offer the precision and automation of ExacTrac,” said Stefan Vilsmeier, President and CEO, Brainlab.

“With the successful clinical use of the integrated system combined with more than one million treatments performed with ExacTrac worldwide, we are well-positioned and strongly motivated to continue to expand its reach and our leadership role in the field of stereotactic radiation oncology,” Vilsmeier concluded.
 
For more information on ExacTrac and integration with linear accelerators, visit Brainlab.com/radiosurgery-products/exactrac/.

* Times Higher Education World University Rankings in 2014/2015