May 24, 2017 — The University Medical Centre (UMC) Utrecht in the Netherlands recently treated the first patient as part of a clinical study with the Elekta Unity magnetic resonance radiation therapy (MR/RT) system. Elekta Unity is capable of delivering precisely targeted radiation doses and capturing MR images of diagnostic quality. It is the first time a patient has been treated on a state-of-the-art linear accelerator with a high-field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system, according to Elekta.
The study, taking place at UMC Utrecht, aims to confirm the pre-clinically demonstrated technical accuracy and safety of Elekta Unity in the clinical setting. In the ongoing study, a total of five patients with spinal metastases will be treated with the system under a strict protocol, and will receive radiation treatment guided by MR imaging. Analysis of the first clinically derived data shows that visibility of the treatment target and radiation beam accuracy is excellent as expected.
“Image-guided adaptive radiotherapy has become the standard of care to optimize the accuracy and precision of radiation delivery,” said Ina Jürgenliemk-Schulz, M.D., Ph.D., radiation oncologist at UMC Utrecht and principal investigator of the study. “Better visualization of the tumor targets and the surrounding healthy tissues at the exact moment of treatment, makes it possible to adapt the radiation dose to the actual tumor anatomy and optimally spare normal tissue during treatment. MR/RT with Elekta Unity will drive the paradigm shift from conventional highly fractionated treatments towards more ablative approaches, with smaller fields and fewer treatment fractions.”
UMC Utrecht is the founding member of Elekta’s MR-linac Consortium, a global collaboration of institutions bringing together leaders in radiation oncology, MR-imaging, physics and radiotherapists. The mission of the consortium is to investigate how MR-linac technology can lead to improved patient outcomes for existing radiation therapy indications and extend radiation therapy for additional indications.
Elekta Unity integrates a premium quality (1.5 Tesla) MR scanner, from MR technology partner Philips, with an advanced linear accelerator and intelligently designed software.
The system is a work in progress and not available for sale or distribution.
For more information: www.elekta.com
