Consortium Established to Advance Integration of a Linear Accelerator with Simultaneous MRI Technology

A consortium has been established to integrate radiotherapy delivery with simultaneous magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to provide cutting-edge cancer treatments.

Elekta, AB (Stockholm, Sweden) and Philips Healthcare (Best, the Netherlands) reported that they will expand a joint program to develop new technology in cancer care with an imaging-treatment platform that merges radiation therapy and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology in a single treatment system. The program for development will include a research consortium of leading radiation oncology centers and clinicians, which currently includes the University Medical Center Utrecht (the Netherlands).

The establishment of the consortium marks the next step in the collaboration between Elekta, a developer of neurosurgery and radiation therapy systems and Philips Healthcare, a leader in medical imaging systems. The consortium’s goal will be to fuse precise radiation delivery with MRI into one MRI-guided radiation therapy system. This will help clinicians to achieve unprecedented soft tissue imaging during radiation therapy and to adapt treatment delivery in real-time for very precise cancer treatments.

“Bringing the superior soft tissue imaging of MRI and precise radiotherapy together in one device could potentially revolutionize cancer care,” said Tomas Puusepp, president and CEO of Elekta. “The need to maximize therapeutic radiation on the target, while minimizing the exposure of healthy tissue is entirely driven by the best interests of the patient--they deserve the best chance for a cure and an improved quality of life. Elekta and Philips are leaders in the global healthcare community with a complete spectrum of expertise to fulfill this vision.”

“Cancer is a major global disease that we hope to control with more targeted treatments,” remarked Gene Saragnese, CEO imaging systems at Philips Healthcare. “MRI is emerging in oncology applications because of its excellent real-time 3D [three-dimensional] visualization of soft tissue. Together with our partners, all leaders in radiation therapy delivery, we are convinced that the integrated MRI-guided radiation therapy system has the potential to become a game changer in cancer care on a global scale.”

Medical device companies have constructed and evaluated a prototype system, working with University Medical Center Utrecht, that incorporates a linear accelerator and a 1.5-Tesla MRI system. The promising findings of preliminary testing has enabled the project to take the effort to the next level of development and testing by a select group of consortium partners.

“We are proud and excited about this project,” commented Prof. Jan Lagendijk, department of radiotherapy, University Medical Center Utrecht. “Elekta, Philips, and my department have strived for over a decade to make this possible. Through real-time imaging of both tumors and organs at risk, an integrated MRI-guided radiation therapy system would enable us to see more precisely than ever what we treat, and irradiate just the tumor as it moves in the body during treatment. This could potentially bring significant benefits to patients and overall healthcare economics.”

Radiotherapy is one of the standard tools utilized to treat cancer, either as a treatment plan by itself or used with other modalities such as chemotherapy. The technique involves targeting cancerous tissue and irradiating it with high-energy radiation beams in a manner that maximizes sparing of healthy tissue near the tumor. Radiation therapy delivered by linear accelerators and medical imaging already plays a fundamental role in treatment planning, delivery, and postcare, and is a cost-effective and safe way to treat patients with cancer.

The integrated MRI-guided radiation therapy system is currently in development and not available for sale.

Elekta develops applications and treatment planning systems for radiotherapy, radiosurgery, and brachytherapy, as well as workflow enhancing software systems across the spectrum of cancer care. Elekta oncology and neurosurgery systems are used in over 6,000 hospitals worldwide. Elekta employs approximately 3,400 employees worldwide.

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