Proton Therapy System Powered by Triniobium Core

By MedImaging International staff writers
Posted on 29 Mar 2012
Proton beam radiotherapy can effectively deliver targeted radiation doses with complete proton energy absorption at predictable tissue depth, thereby allowing precise radiation delivery adjacent to vital structures and lower radiation doses to healthy structures. The availability of proton therapy has remained very limited, however, due to the enormous cost, large footprint, and technical complexity of conventional proton therapy systems.

Mevion Medical Systems (Littleton, MA, USA), a radiation therapy company focused on advancing the treatment of cancer, has received CE Marking certification for the Mevion S250 proton therapy system. This significant milestone indicates that Mevion has completed its development in compliance with the European Union’s (EU) Medical Device Directive. The CE Marking allows the Mevion S250 to be marketed, sold, and installed in the European Union and in any country recognizing CE Marking.

CE Marking of the Mevion S250 gives hospitals and cancer treatment centers throughout the European Union, and other regions where CE Marking is recognized, the ability to order, install, and treat patients with this revolutionary medical device. Powered by a triniobium core, the Mevion S250 considerably reduces the cost, size, and complexity of proton therapy systems to levels similar to modern X-ray radiation therapy devices, and brings accessibility, cost-effectiveness, and practicality to proton therapy.

“We are very pleased to receive CE Marking certification for the Mevion S250, the final step to offer this first of its kind proton therapy system to healthcare providers and patients in the European Union,” said Joseph K. Jachinowski, chief executive officer. In the United States, the Mevion S250 is pending US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(k) clearance.

Mevion is concurrently installing three Mevion S250 proton therapy systems in the United States. The first site at the Siteman Cancer Center in Barnes Jewish Hospital, at Washington University (St. Louis, MO, USA) accepted delivery of its superconducting synchrocyclotron in October of 2011 and is now producing a powerful 250 MeV energy beam. The second and third installations at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (New Brunswick, NJ, USA) and University of Oklahoma (Norman, OK, USA) are underway and scheduled to be completed later in 2012.

Mevion’s flagship product, the Mevion S250 proton therapy system, is designed to preserve all of the treatment benefits of conventional proton therapy systems while removing the obstacles of size, cost, and complexity.

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