Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis have instituted a new image-guided radiation therapy system from ViewRay Inc that couples radiotherapy delivery and continuous magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for cancer treatment. ViewRay utilizes high-quality soft-tissue images to better plan, position, and track treatment.
Siteman began clinical research of the system in January 2012 using an internal study of 27 patients, who had varying types of cancer. "It is important to evaluate any new technology early to assess potential clinical impacts," said Parag J. Parikh, MD, assistant professor of radiation oncology at the Siteman Cancer Center and lead investigator for the study. "We are comparing the new images with available radiation oncology imaging techniques and will report the results at upcoming scientific meetings.”
The FDA gave the ViewRay system marketing clearance in May 2012.