Hijjah 01, 1431, Nov 07, 2010, SPA -- The Saudi Arabian National Guard Health Affairs (NGHA) announced Saturday it has signed an agreement with Varian Medical Systems and IMRIS, Inc., to develop and build a facility for magnetic resonance-guided radiation therapy (MRgRT). Under the agreement, Varian and IMRIS will supply a cancer treatment solution that combines IMRIS' unique movable magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology with Varian's latest linear accelerator technology, the TrueBeam system. MRI provides high quality soft tissue imaging that can be used to eradicate tumors using radiotherapy or radio surgery. “While this technology is still in the early developmental phase, we see great potential to advance the ability of clinicians to target tumors within soft tissue more precisely,” said Dow Wilson, president of Varian's Oncology Systems business. The solution will be designed to permit a high-field MRI scanner to move in and out of the radiation therapy room on demand, providing MR imaging to confirm a tumor's location without having to move the patient from the treatment couch or transport the patient to and from another room, as would be required today. Due to the mobile nature of the MRI system, the radiation therapy systems are expected to be offered in multi-room configurations,” according to a report published today by Saudi Gazette.
