Region's first stereotactic radiosurgery treatments due to begin by end of October RIGA, Latvia, Oct. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Doctors in Latvia have begun treatments using the region's first Novalis Tx(TM) radiosurgery platform from Varian Medical Systems (NYSE:VAR) and BrainLAB. Two prostate cancer patients have been treated using Varian's RapidArc® radiotherapy technology at the Riga Eastern Clinical University Hospital. The Novalis Tx radiosurgery platform together with RapidArc technology enabled the clinicians to treat prostates with image-guided, intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) in about half the time typically needed for conventional IMRT. "Our new radiosurgical instrument enabled us to spare surrounding healthy organs while precisely targeting the tumor with a high dose," said Dr. Sergey Popov, head of the hospital's radiotherapy department. Dr. Popov said the Novalis Tx radiosurgery platform is the Baltic region's first machine for frameless intra-cranial stereotactic radiosurgery of brain lesions and he announced that cranial treatments would begin this month. Latvia's minister of health Prof. Baiba Rozentale is celebrating the arrival of the machine and the new treatment capability at a public ceremony today. "The whole region has been waiting for this landmark as this machine represents the first ever stereotactic radiosurgery capability in any of the Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania or Estonia," added Dr. Popov. "We chose the Novalis Tx radiosurgery platform because it gives us great clinical flexibility, enabling us to deliver RapidArc, IMRT, conformal treatments, and our first stereotactic radiosurgery techniques. In the past, patients have had to travel overseas for such treatments, mostly to Germany, but they will now receive state-of-the-art treatments here in Latvia." The Novalis Tx radiosurgery platform features very high dose delivery rates, which contributes to shorter treatment times. It also offers dynamic fine beam shaping using the unique HD120(TM) high definition multi-leaf collimator (MLC) and non-invasive, precise patient positioning for rapid and more comfortable treatments. Specialized X-ray imaging systems are used to pinpoint the target and position the patient with millimeter accuracy, compensating for any motion that occurs during a treatment. The Novalis Tx radiosurgery platform at Riga Eastern Clinical University Hospital will be used equally by radiation oncologists and neurosurgeons to deliver a wide range of advanced intra-cranial and extra-cranial treatments. Editorial contact: Neil Madle, Varian Medical Systems, +44 7786 526068 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 5,100 people who are located at manufacturing sites in North America, China, and Europe and in its 79 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 3300 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 950 people in 16 offices across Europe, Asia, Australia, North and South America. For more information, visit http://www.brainlab.com/. DATASOURCE: Varian Medical Systems, Inc. CONTACT: Neil Madle, Varian Medical Systems, +44 7786 526068 Web Site: http://www.varian.com/

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