Henry Ford Health Becomes the First Center to Treat Patients with ViewRay's MRIdian A3i System

New MRIdian A3i features will enable the Henry Ford team to streamline on-table workflow, reduce treatment times, and expand clinical utility to brain treatments

CLEVELAND, June 2, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- ViewRay, Inc. (Nasdaq: VRAY) announced today that Detroit-based Henry Ford Health is the first MRIdian center in the world to complete a full course of patient treatments using the new MRIdian A3i System. This is another first for Henry Ford Health as they continue to be at the forefront of clinical innovation in magnetic resonance (MR)-guided radiation therapy. In 2017, they became the first center in the world to treat patients with the MRIdian Linac, the first commercially available system to combine real-time magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with linear accelerator radiation delivery, at Henry Ford Medical Center – Cottage in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan. In 2021, Henry Ford became the first institution in the United States with two MRIdian Linac systems when their second system was installed in Henry Ford's Brigitte Harris Cancer Pavilion in Detroit.

The new MRIdian A3i features enable Henry Ford clinicians to collaborate simultaneously and connect remotely during patient treatment. The new automated workflow steps and contouring tools are designed to minimize clinician time and increase patient throughput. MRIdian A3i also expands existing real-time tissue tracking and automated beam gating functionalities to include multiplanar tracking and gating in up to three planes. Henry Ford plans to pioneer brain treatment with MRIdian A3i utilizing the new brain treatment package including the dedicated brain coil and integrated immobilization system.

"People worldwide travel to Henry Ford Health for advanced cancer treatment, and our MRIdian systems have allowed us to deliver expedited treatment courses often completed in one to two weeks," said Parag Parikh, M.D., Director of MR-guided Radiation and GI Radiation at Henry Ford Health Cancer. "As the first cancer center in the world to treat patients with the MRIdian A3i, we have observed the improved accuracy of a liver tumor treatment using its two-plane imaging, and the technology has already assisted with treatment planning and evaluation for a patient with recurrent meningioma."

"With MRIdian A3i now at Henry Ford, we look forward to further advancing our cancer care, reducing treatment times, and expanding our clinical offering to include brain treatments with outstanding precision and accuracy," said Jennifer Dolan, Ph.D., Lead Physicist for the MR-guided Radiation program at Henry Ford.

"Henry Ford Health has been a leader in the field of MR-guided radiation therapy, not only for their clinical firsts but also for their leadership in training and innovative research," said Scott Drake, President and CEO, ViewRay. "As the first center to treat patients with MRIdian A3i, Henry Ford Health continues to pioneer MR-guided radiation therapy to the next level. We look forward to Henry Ford's continued leadership and expanding the use of MRIdian A3i to brain treatment." 

MRIdian A3i allows clinicians to auto-contour, auto-adapt, and auto-gate intelligently and efficiently. Now providers have the flexibility to select up to three different tracking targets in any combination of coronal, sagittal, or axial planes to automatically stop the beam when any single target exceeds the clinician-defined treatment boundaries. Finally, to enhance the patient experience and allow the patient to participate in their treatment, MRIdian A3i includes an integrated patient breath-hold display. This visual feedback system helps the patient keep the tumor in an optimal treatment position to maximize the efficiency of radiation dose delivery.

The Henry Ford Health Cancer is one of the largest cancer programs in Michigan, providing care at five hospitals, 11 outpatient facilities and hundreds of aligned doctor's offices throughout southeast and southcentral Michigan. Cancer experts at Henry Ford communicate seamlessly across the organization's multiple cancer treatment locations, offering patients access to the most advanced treatment options and expertise, close to home. Treatment for the most complex or rare cancers and Henry Ford's extensive cancer research program is anchored at its Detroit location. For more information, visit henryford.com/cancer. 

To date, over 21,000 patients have been treated with MRIdian. Currently, 50 MRIdian systems are installed at hospitals around the world where they are used to treat a wide variety of solid tumors and are the focus of numerous ongoing research efforts. MRIdian has been the subject of hundreds of peer-reviewed publications, scientific meeting abstracts, and presentations. For a list of treatment centers, please visit: https://viewray.com/find-mridian-mri-guided-radiation-therapy/

The opinions and clinical experiences discussed herein are specific to the featured physicians and are for information purposes only. Nothing in this material is intended to provide specific medical advice or to take the place of written law or regulations. Results of treatment presented in this press release are not indicative of typical or future results.

The MRIdian Linac System is not appropriate for all patients, including those who are not candidates for magnetic resonance imaging. Radiation treatments may cause side effects that can vary depending on the part of the body being treated. The most frequent ones are typically temporary and may include, but are not limited to, irritation to the respiratory, digestive, urinary or reproductive systems; fatigue; nausea; skin irritation; and hair loss. In some patients, side effects can be severe. Treatment sessions may vary in complexity and duration. Radiation treatment is not appropriate for all cancers. You should discuss the potential for side effects and their severity as well as the benefits of radiation and magnetic resonance imaging with your doctor to make sure radiation treatment is right for you.

ViewRay, Inc. (Nasdaq: VRAY) designs, manufactures, and markets the MRIdian® MRI-Guided Radiation Therapy System. MRIdian is built upon a proprietary high-definition MR imaging system designed from the ground up to address the unique challenges and clinical workflow for advanced radiation oncology. Unlike MR systems used in diagnostic radiology, MRIdian's high-definition MR was purpose-built to address specific challenges, including beam distortion, skin toxicity, and other concerns that potentially may arise when high magnetic fields interact with radiation beams. ViewRay and MRIdian are registered trademarks of ViewRay, Inc.

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. Statements in this press release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements include, among other things, ViewRay's financial guidance for the full year 2022, anticipated future orders, anticipated future operating and financial performance, treatment results, therapy adoption, innovation, and the performance of the MRIdian systems. Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. Such factors include, among others, the ability to commercialize the MRIdian Linac System, demand for ViewRay's products, the ability to convert backlog into revenue, the timing of delivery of ViewRay's products, the timing, length, and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic, including its impacts across our businesses on demand, our operations and global supply chains, disruptions in the supply or changes in costs of raw materials, labor, product components or transportation services as a result of inflation, the results and other uncertainties associated with clinical trials, the ability to raise the additional funding needed to continue to pursue ViewRay's business and product development plans, the inherent uncertainties associated with developing new products or technologies, competition in the industry in which ViewRay operates, and overall market conditions. For a further description of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to ViewRay's business in general, see ViewRay's current and future reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021 and its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, as updated periodically with the Company's other filings with the SEC. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release, and ViewRay assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

SOURCE ViewRay, Inc.