New Release of Elekta's Monaco Treatment Planning System Prepares Software for Stereotactic Radiation Therapy

ATLANTA, July 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Among the many new features of Monaco® 3.0, Dynamic Conformal Arc (DCA) Therapy provides clinicians with a simple way to deliver highly conformal stereotactic plans by using the multi-leaf collimator (MLC) to dynamically conform around a target as the treatment beam rotates around the patient. DCA recently received 510(k) clearance for Monaco from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

"DCA can be used to render more conformal plans by creating multiple arcs in a non-coplanar fashion – in such a way that the geometry of each arc minimizes the dose to the adjacent organs during the gantry rotation," says Todd Powell, Executive Vice President, Elekta Software. "When this technique is used in conjunction with micro-MLCs – such as the new Apex™* MLC, which is now supported in Monaco 3.0 – it can yield very conformal plans and is much easier in terms of quality assurance measurements."

DCA is particularly well-suited for stereotactic treatments because it eliminates the need to modulate the typically higher doses per fraction in stereotactic therapy. DCA's benefit, therefore, is fewer monitor units and reduced treatment time compared with other delivery methods.

"With DCA, clinicians have the option to obtain a comparably conformal plan with approximately half the treatment time and reduced scatter dose," Powell adds.

Monaco 3.0 offers array of stereotactic tools

Streamlining the stereotactic workflow is a major goal of Monaco 3.0, which includes:

• Apex micro-MLC: 2.5 mm nominal leaf resolution, 12 x 14 cm field size

• Planning with multiple isocenters: Enables same-fraction, single-plan stereotactic treatment of, e.g., multiple brain mets, multiple brain lesions

• Plan review and summation for any number of plans

• Summed dose from multiple plans can be saved into a single plan

• Sensitivity analysis data table integrated into prescription

• Workflow-enhancing changes to graphical user interface

• New dose analysis tools

*Apex is a works in progress and not yet available for sale in the U.S.

About Elekta

Elekta is a human care company pioneering significant innovations and clinical solutions for treating cancer and brain disorders. The company develops sophisticated, state-of-the-art tools and treatment planning systems for radiation therapy and radiosurgery, as well as workflow enhancing software systems across the spectrum of cancer care.

Stretching the boundaries of science and technology, providing intelligent and resource-efficient solutions that offer confidence to both healthcare providers and patients, Elekta aims to improve, prolong and even save patient lives, making the future possible.

Today, Elekta solutions in oncology and neurosurgery are used in over 5,000 hospitals globally, and every day more than 100,000 patients receive diagnosis, treatment or follow-up with the help of a solution from the Elekta Group.

Elekta employs around 2,500 employees globally. The corporate headquarter is located in Stockholm, Sweden, and the company is listed on the Nordic Exchange under the ticker EKTAb. For more information about Elekta, please visit www.elekta.com.

SOURCE Elekta