May 13 2014
CIVCO Medical Solutions, the leading provider of comprehensive radiation oncology motion management solutions, is excited to announce a partnership with 21st Century Oncology to utilize CIVCO's 6 Degrees of Freedom Protura™ Robotic System.
21st Century will be using Protura in conjunction with CIVCO's newly-released Universal Couchtop™ Kevlar Extension and Varian Medical Systems' Calypso® System for the treatment of prostate cancer. When treating patients with external beam radiation therapy, Protura remotely repositions patients with robotic 6 degrees of freedom to ensure sub-millimeter positioning accuracy of the targeted tumor. Protura provides more accurate positioning of the patient, minimizing the exposure of radiation to surrounding healthy tissue.
"CIVCO Medical Solutions is honored to be partnering with 21st Century Oncology to improve patient care with state-of-the art technology" said Nat Geissel, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Radiation Oncology. "In addition to improved treatment accuracy for patients, Protura's integration with existing linear accelerators enables cancer treatment centers to improve their treatment methods at an affordable price. Both of our organizations are focused on providing the highest quality of care and the addition of Protura to 21st Century Oncology will only enhance that. Cancer is affecting more Americans every day and this partnership will provide solutions for improved patient treatments".
Standardizing radiation treatments from the initial treatment simulation to the actual treatment of the tumor will allow a more efficient process for the 21st Century Oncology and more accurate treatment of the disease.
"Modern radiation therapy techniques require high precision and accuracy, therefore correct patient positioning is becoming one of the most important issues in radiation oncology," said Steven Finkelstein, M.D., Board Certified Radiation Oncologist and National Director of 21st Century Oncology's research arm, Translational Research Consortium (TRC). "The addition of Protura will provide additional treatment verification and allow for more customized treatment plans tailored to patient needs."
Protura will be installed and integrated with an existing Varian® Medical Systems' Trilogy® linear accelerator at 21st Century Oncology's Scottsdale location. This is the first Protura installation in the state of Arizona.