The Ajou University Hospital said it has become the first in Asia to adopt high-definition radiotherapy “HyperArc TrueBeam STx.”

TrueBeam STx is four-dimensional stereotactic radiotherapy that minimizes the side effects of conventional radiation therapy by preventing exposure of unnecessary radiation to normal cells during anticancer radiation treatment.

HyperArc TrueBeam STx

The model with a HyperArc solution can perform non-invasive radiation surgery for multiple brain metastases, including head and neck tumors.

HyperArc technology, suitable for radiation surgery, can reduce treatment time by up to three times of the conventional treatment. Using a special mask, the radiotherapy can fix the patient noninvasively, which reduces the patient's pain and inconvenience.

Radiation surgery requires much more precision because a significant amount of radiation is exposed to the patient per one-time radiation. In HyperArc treatment, an automated system moves to locate the lesion of the patient precisely, without further movement of the patient, using a six-dimensional treatment table. Then, the system induces quick and accurate treatment, the hospital said.

The HyperArc treatment system carries out a virtual physical collision experiment for stable treatment, which eliminates the risk of collision under an automatic treatment system.

The HyperArc treatment planning system, optimized for radiation surgery, helps minimize the exposure of radiation to the surrounding normal organs. The system allows simultaneous radiation therapy for multiple lesions, which maximizes the effectiveness for metastatic brain cancer patients.

“Because the Ajou University Hospital adopts HyperArc TrueBeam STx for the first time in Asia, professor Park Hye-jin and I received new technology training at the Beatson West of Scotland of Cancer Center in Scotland in February, to treat tumors including metastatic brain cancer and head and neck cancer,” said Oh Young-taek, head of the radiation oncology department at the Ajou University Hospital.

“A metastatic brain tumor is found in about 20 percent of patients who have been diagnosed with cancer for the first time. The system will provide more accurate and safe treatment for cancer patients who want noninvasive surgery,” he added.

Varian, the world’s largest developer of radiotherapy device, selected the Ajou University Hospital as a reference site for development and assessment of radiotherapy technologies.

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