June 18, 2009 - A leading Danish cancer hospital has treated its first patient using RapidArc radiotherapy after installing eight advanced radiotherapy treatment machines from Varian Medical Systems of Palo Alto, Calif. Herlev Hospital, to the northwest of Copenhagen, delivered the fast and efficient RapidArc treatment to a prostate cancer patient using a Clinac iX linear accelerator.
The treatment comes just two years after the hospital selected Varian to replace its entire treatment machine and software infrastructure because the equipment was unable to carry out advanced image-guided treatments.
RapidArc delivers a precise and efficient treatment in single or multiple arcs of the treatment machine around the patient and makes it possible to deliver image-guided IMRT times two to eight times faster than is possible with conventional IMRT. Faster treatments allow for greater precision, since there is less chance of patient or tumor movement during treatment delivery and, with less time on the treatment couch, also allow for greater patient comfort.
Herlev Hospital carries out 48,000 radiation treatments per annum, treating 3,000 new patients each year. All eight Varian accelerators at Herlev, ordered in May 2007, are equipped with the On-Board Imager device for modern, real-time image guidance, which is integral to RapidArc treatments. IGRT enables clinicians to pinpoint the position of the tumor at the time of treatment, allowing more precise treatments and potentially fewer side effects.
For more information: www.varian.com
May 03, 2025 
