MUMBAI, India, Oct. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- One of India's leading cancer hospitals will expand its program of advanced whole-body radiosurgery with the acquisition of a Varian/BrainLAB Novalis Tx(TM) radiosurgery platform. Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai is currently constructing a new facility to house the new device and plans to begin treatments in March next year. The hospital, which currently delivers radiotherapy using three Varian Clinac(R) linear accelerators and four telecobalt devices, has been carrying out stereotactic radiotherapy on Clinac accelerators since 2000, mainly for brain tumor patients. The acquisition of the new Novalis Tx platform, which was ordered in March, will enable clinicians at Tata to expand this program by routinely delivering state-of-the-art stereotactic radiosurgery to combat both cranial and extra-cranial tumors. "The new machine will enable us to offer the most modern and advanced radiotherapy and radiosurgery treatments to fight cancer," says Professor S.K. Shrivastava, head of Tata Memorial's Department of Radiation Oncology. "It means our patients will receive very advanced treatments and we can carry out both straightforward and complex cases on the same device, which improves access and efficiency." Professor Shrivastava added, "We decided to acquire the Novalis Tx because this equipment is a technological marvel and an excellent combination of two leading suppliers of stereotactic radiosurgery technology. We have a history of introducing advanced radiotherapy treatments such as 3D-CRT and intensity-modulated radiotherapy and this move is another step in ensuring our patients receive highly accurate and effective treatments." Varian and BrainLAB joined forces late last year to introduce the Novalis Tx and Tata Memorial is the first hospital in India to order this advanced solution. Tata Memorial treats over 16,000 new cancer patients each year, with head & neck, breast and cervical cancers the most common. More than 60 percent of the hospital's patients require radiotherapy during their course of treatment. India has a population of over a billion people and there are an estimated one million new cases of cancer diagnosed in India each year. Novalis Tx offers radiosurgery for malignant and benign lesions throughout the body, arteriovascular malformations, and functional lesions. It features very high dose delivery rates, which means that treatments can be delivered very rapidly. Novalis Tx also offers dynamic ultra-fine beam shaping and frameless patient positioning for more rapid and comfortable treatments. The platform also includes an On-Board Imager(R) device for pinpointing the tumor and positioning the patient with sub-millimeter precision. Novalis Tx allows multiple beam energies of up to 18 million volts for treating deep-seated tumors. "The speed coupled with the precise beam shaping and advanced imaging capabilities make advanced radiosurgical treatments with the Novalis Tx more affordable for hospitals and their patients," adds Dow Wilson, head of Varian's Oncology Systems business. Varian editorial contact: Neil Madle +44 7786 526068 BrainLAB editorial contact: Eva Schuster +49 89 991568 312 About Varian Medical Systems Varian Medical Systems, Inc., of Palo Alto, California, is the world's leading manufacturer of medical devices and software for treating cancer and other medical conditions with radiotherapy, radiosurgery, proton therapy, and brachytherapy. The company supplies informatics software for managing comprehensive cancer clinics, radiotherapy centers and medical oncology practices. Varian is a premier supplier of tubes and digital detectors for X-ray imaging in medical, scientific, and industrial applications and also supplies X-ray imaging products for cargo screening and industrial inspection. Varian Medical Systems employs approximately 4,800 people who are located at manufacturing sites in North America and Europe and in its 60 sales and support offices around the world. For more information, visit http://www.varian.com/. About BrainLAB BrainLAB develops, manufactures and markets software-driven medical technology that enables procedures that are more precise, less invasive, and also less expensive than traditional treatments. Among the core products are image-guided systems that provide highly accurate real-time information used for navigation during surgical procedures. This utility has been further expanded to serve as a computer terminal for physicians to more effectively access and interpret diagnostic scans and other digital medical information for better informed decisions. BrainLAB solutions allow expansion from a single system to operating suites to digitally integrated hospitals covering all subspecialties from neurosurgery, orthopedics, ENT, CMF to spine & trauma and oncology. With more than 3,300 systems installed in over 75 countries, BrainLAB is a market leader in image-guided technology. The privately held BrainLAB group, founded in 1989, is headquartered in Munich, Germany and today employs 1,000 people in 16 offices across Europe, Asia, Australia, North and South America. For more information, visit BrainLAB at http://www.brainlab.com/. DATASOURCE: Varian Medical Systems CONTACT: Neil Madle for Varian Medical Systems, +44 7786 526068; Eva Schuster of BrainLAB, +49 89 991568 312 Web site: http://www.varian.com/ http://www.brainlab.com/

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