Varian Medical Systems Spotlights New Edge™ Radiosurgery Suite for Non-Invasive Surgical Procedures at 2015 ChinaMed Exhibition in Beijing

BEIJING, March 27, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The Edge™ radiosurgery suite, a technology system for rapidly delivering precise, non-invasive surgical procedures in the treatment of cancer, is among the medical innovations that Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR) showcases this week at the 27th International Medical Instruments & Equipment Exhibition (ChinaMed). 

"The Edge radiosurgery system offers clinicians a non-invasive alternative to traditional surgery.  It accurately targets tumors and other abnormalities without an incision or the need for recovery in a hospital setting," said Dee Khuntia, M.D., Varian's vice president for medical affairs and chief medical officer.  "Cancer specialists can use the Edge system to accurately target tumors of the brain, spine, lung, and other areas that are typically difficult to treat surgically."

"We are pleased to introduce the Edge radiosurgery system, and believe its ability to enable advanced cancer treatment will help to meet the fast growing demand from Chinese cancer patients and physicians for strengthened clinical capabilities and better workflow efficiencies," said Zhang Xiao, Varian's vice president and managing director of the greater China region. "We are also proud that China plays a significant role in this world-class system by manufacturing quality modulator components at our Beijing facility, where we have recently celebrated completion of 3,000 modulator sets manufactured in China."

As a non-invasive option, radiosurgery use in the United States has been growing steadily over the last decade for the treatment of cancer and other conditions that can be appropriately treated with focused radiation.  Predictions are that it will continue to grow as research accrues about the benefits to patients.¹  Radiosurgery involves the use of sophisticated software and hardware to ablate tumors or other abnormalities with high doses of radiation while minimizing exposure of surrounding healthy tissue.  The Edge system can complete sophisticated radiosurgery treatments in just a few minutes—much faster than earlier generations of technology.

Edge was first unveiled in 2012 in the United States, and received clearance from the CFDA of China in 2014.  As of March 2015, Edge systems had been installed and used at cancer centers in the U.S., United Kingdom, Portugal, Italy, and Switzerland.  Users have reported over 1000 patients have now been treated using Edge technology, for lung, brain, gastrointestinal, genitourinary, and other types of cancer. 

Clinicians at the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, Michigan, were the first to use the Edge radiosurgery system in the United States.  They have been presenting positive studies at the scientific meetings of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) and the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO). 

"Last year, we reported that the Edge radiosurgery system can deliver dose to a targeted tumor with sub-millimeter accuracy," said Salim Siddiqui, MD, PhD, director of the stereotactic radiosurgery program at Henry Ford.²  "Compared with many other robot- or frame-based radiosurgery systems, the Edge is more convenient, more robust, more versatile, and substantially more efficient because it can be used to target multiple tumors at once and can treat anywhere in the body.  Moreover, with the capability to deliver 2400 monitor units per minute, some treatments can be completed up to four times faster than on other systems -- a significant benefit for patients." 

"The Edge offers multiple advanced imaging modalities, including on-demand X-ray imaging and 4-D cone-beam CT, for localization and tracking of the patient's position throughout the treatment, which has greatly enhanced our confidence in the accuracy and efficiency of frameless stereotactic treatment," added Ning Wen, PhD, stereotactic radiosurgery physics lead.  "It has given us a variety of strategies to take aim at cancer."

Note to editors: High resolution images of Varian's Edge system for image-guided radiosurgery are available online at this URL: http://newsroom.varian.com/edge.

ABOUT VARIAN MEDICAL SYSTEMS
Varian Medical Systems, Inc., of Palo Alto, California, is the world's leading manufacturer of medical devices and software for treating cancer and other medical conditions with radiotherapy, radiosurgery, and brachytherapy. The company supplies informatics software for managing comprehensive cancer clinics, radiotherapy centers and medical oncology practices. Varian is a premier supplier of tubes and digital detectors for X-ray imaging in medical, scientific, and industrial applications and also supplies high-energy X-ray devices for cargo screening and non-destructive testing applications. Varian Medical Systems employs approximately 6,800 people who are located at manufacturing sites in North America, Europe, and China and approximately 70 sales and support offices around the world. The company's center in Beijing encompasses oncology equipment manufacturing operations, an educational center for radiotherapy clinical professionals, a customer service center, and X-ray Products assembly and service.  For more information, visit http://www.varian.com.

¹ Pan H. et al. A survey of stereotactic body radiotherapy use in the United States. Cancer. Volume 117, Issue 19 (October 1, 2011): 4566-4572
² http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/09/140916162537.htm.  According to product specifications, sub-millimeter accuracy is the functional capacity of the gantry, collimator, and couch—three subsystems that work together in the Edge platform to deliver the treatment.

SOURCE Varian Medical Systems

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