North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System Becomes 60th Site In The World To Add Novalis(R) Shaped Beam Surgery To Its Neurosurgery Protocol
WESTCHESTER, Ill., Feb. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- BrainLAB, a worldwide leading innovator in image-guided medical technology, today announced the 60th sale of its groundbreaking radiosurgery system, Novalis Shaped Beam Surgery, to the North Shore-Long Island Jewish (LIJ) Health System, headquartered in Great Neck, New York.
Novalis is a dedicated, software driven neurosurgery technology, which is able to treat both benign and malignant tumors, vascular malformations and functional disorders with single or multi-fractionation and IMRT. Novalis systems are used to treat thousands of patients each year, for a wide range of indications including cancers of the brain, head and neck, spine, liver, lung and prostate. BrainLAB's continuous focus on software innovation and strong partnerships with industry leaders, such as Varian Medical Systems, keeps Novalis at the forefront of technology.
"We consider Novalis to be a valuable asset to our hospital and our community," said Thomas H. Milhorat, MD, chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery of North Shore University Hospital and LIJ Medical Center. "We selected Novalis because of its flexibility in treating a wide number of tumors, vascular malformations and functional disorders as well as giving us the ability to treat with stereotactic IMRT. This system gives us an alternative treatment option for patients who can't benefit from traditional surgery and allows us to treat tumors without harming surrounding healthy tissues, offering precise, effective and the safest treatment available."
"I am pleased to have the North Shore-LIJ Health System join the Novalis user community as the 60th worldwide Novalis Shaped Beam surgery center. Over the years Novalis has evolved to keep pace with the changing needs of the market place and has provided solutions addressing extra-cranial treatments, patient positioning and, most recently, respiratory gating," said Stefan Vilsmeier, Founder & CEO of BrainLAB.
"From the inception of the Novalis technology to today's milestone, we have enjoyed a strong and ongoing partnership with BrainLAB, wherein Varian Medical Systems' linear accelerator and multi-leaf collimator technology play critical roles in a system designed for advanced radiosurgical treatments," said Timothy Guertin, Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President of Varian Medical Systems. "We are pleased to continue supporting BrainLAB in its effort to provide the North Shore-LIJ Health System with robust clinical solutions for their patients."
How does Novalis work?
Today, Novalis is the only radiosurgery system combining automatic, x-ray- based patient positioning with an advanced beam shaping device, a micro-Multileaf Collimator. By continuously shaping the treatment beam to match the size and shape of a patient's tumor from all angles, Novalis ensures that the tumor receives the full treatment dose while protecting healthy tissue or adjoining critical organs. The 20-minute procedure is virtually painless, avoids lengthy hospital stays or rehabilitation and the patient remains awake throughout the entire procedure. In most cases, radiosurgery is performed on an outpatient basis. Radiosurgery may provide an alternative to traditional surgery and a solution for otherwise inoperable tumors.
X-Ray-Based Patient Positioning Accuracy
Positioning accuracy is achieved with two x-ray sources embedded in the floor of the treatment room and two x-ray detectors mounted on the ceiling opposite these sources. With this x-ray system, images of the patient's internal anatomy can be taken only seconds before the actual treatment starts. With these images, the position of the patient and the internal location of the tumor can be precisely determined.
Sophisticated software then compares this live X-ray data with 3D computer tomography (CT) patient data that has been previously acquired and that serves as the basis for the entire treatment plan. Based on both sets of data, the software calculates the required treatment position of the patient's tumor within millimeters. To determine the exact location of the tumor the software uses the bone structures from the x-ray images as a reference. Implanted markers serve as an additional option and act as a reference point to further improve the system's accuracy.
Based on the updated position of the tumor, a computer-guided treatment couch automatically brings the patient into a previously planned and highly precise treatment position, and monitors the patient for subtle shifts in position throughout the procedure. This revolutionary and automatic process does not take longer than two minutes.
BrainLAB's X-Ray Based Patient Positioning System overcomes the positioning inaccuracy of conventional radiation systems and allows for the effective use of the most modern radiation concepts such as Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT).
About BrainLAB
BrainLAB, a privately held company headquartered in Munich, Germany, was founded in 1989 and specializes in the development, manufacture, and marketing of medical technology for radiosurgery / radiotherapy, orthopedics, neurosurgery, and ENT. Among the products developed by BrainLAB are software and hardware components for image-guided surgery and radiotherapy as well as integrated systems for stereotactic radiosurgery. With about 3000 software applications on almost 1400 systems installed in over 60 countries, BrainLAB is among the market leaders in image-guided medical technology. BrainLAB employs more than 580 people worldwide. The company has 15 offices across Europe, Asia, North and South America.
For more information, visit BrainLAB at http://www.brainlab.com/ . About North Shore-Long Island Jewish (LIJ) Health System
The nation's third largest, non-profit, secular healthcare system, the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System provides care for people at all stages of illness throughout Long Island, Queens and Staten Island -- a service area encompassing more than five million people. The health system includes 15 hospitals, four long-term care facilities, a medical research institute, three trauma centers, six home health agencies and dozens of out- patient centers. North Shore-LIJ facilities house more than 5,576 beds, and are staffed by over 7,000 physicians, 7,000 nurses and a total workforce of more than 35,000 -- the largest employer on Long Island and the seventh largest in New York City.
For more information, visit http://www.northshorelij.com/ .
BrainLABCONTACT: Carrie Baker of High Road Communications, +1-613-236-0909,cbaker@highroad.com , or Gabriella Cyranski of BrainLAB Inc.,+1-708-486-0114, cyranski@brainlab.com