Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre treats its first patient with Elekta Unity MR-Linac
Clinical implementation of breakthrough technology that Sunnybrook scientists and physicians helped transform from concept to clinical practice
TORONTO, August 16, 2019 – Elekta (EKTA-B.ST) today announced that the Odette Cancer Centre at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre has treated its first patient using Elekta Unity, a transformative magnetic resonance radiation therapy (MR/RT) system that enables personalized precision radiation therapy. Elekta Unity combines a state-of-the-art 1.5T MRI scanner, a best-in-class 7 MV linear accelerator and breakthrough real-time adaptive radiotherapy software. The combination of these technologies allows the radiation dose to be reshaped based on daily changes in shape, size and position of the tumor and surrounding healthy anatomy, as visualized with MRI, and then enables accurate dose delivery with real-time visualization of the tumor.
On August 15, Odette Cancer Centre started treating its first patient using Elekta Unity. The patient is receiving treatment for a glioblastoma brain tumor.
“Radiation oncologists have long sought the ability to see the tumors we treat in real time and to adapt treatment based on daily changes to the tumor and the patient’s anatomy,” said Arjun Sahgal, MD, head of Odette’s Cancer Ablation Therapy Program. “As a founding member of the Elekta MR-linac Consortium that developed the technology behind Elekta Unity, the Sunnybrook team has made significant contributions to making this vision a reality. We are gratified that our efforts will now benefit our patients. Elekta Unity will enable us to deliver higher doses of radiation while sparing healthy tissue and help patients to complete their treatment more quickly. It will also allow us to use radiation therapy for hard to treat cancers for which traditional radiation therapy approaches may not be feasible.”
“Elekta Unity received clearance from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission just a few weeks ago, and we are excited that this groundbreaking precision radiation medicine system is now available to Canadian cancer patients,” said Richard Hausmann, Elekta President and CEO. “I would like to personally thank Dr. Sahgal and everyone at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre for the important role they played in the designing the technological tour de force that allows us to finally integrate MR images with an advanced linac radiation delivery system. We share with them not only a passion for innovation but also compassion for cancer patients. We are pleased that they now have an important new tool for optimizing patient outcomes and reducing patients’ treatment burden.”
To learn more, visit elekta.com/Unity.
Elekta Unity has CE-mark and 510(k) clearance. Not commercially available in all markets.
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For further information, please contact:
Oskar Bosson, Global EVP Corporate Communications and Public Affairs
Tel: +46 70 410 7180, e-mail: Oskar.Bosson@elekta.com
Time zone: CET: Central European Time
Raven Canzeri, Global Public Relations Manager
Tel: +1 770 670 2524, e-mail: Raven.Canzeri@elekta.com
Time zone: ET: Eastern Time
About Elekta
For almost five decades, Elekta has been a leader in precision radiation medicine. Our nearly 4,000 employees worldwide are committed to ensuring everyone in the world with cancer has access to – and benefits from – more precise, personalized radiotherapy treatments. Headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, Elekta is listed on NASDAQ Stockholm Exchange. Visit elekta.com or follow @Elekta on Twitter.
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