This month’s feature is a general radiotherapy news update for you read at your leisure during the holidays! There are lots of items of interest from the UK and overseas.
Happy Christmas and all the best for 2012 from all of us at RadPro and thanks for your continued support in 2011, establishing www.RadPro.eu as one of the leading international radiotherapy professional websites.
Interactive Index
- What's new on RadPro... How to publish your news on the day you require.
- December Focus... A radiotherapy general news special edition
- What the papers said... Leading radiotherapy stories in the media
- Radiotherapy Jobs... The latest international vacancies
- Feature listings... Revised upcoming features
We ensure maximum exposure at the time of the news or editorial release date for all of your clinical, corporate or product information. Why wait for paper based journals.
New Media Centre... The home page hot news box is now called the “Media Centre” and this box is updated daily with our corporate partners news items for instant online release to our readership. We also publish the monthly e-Lectron e-news here too.
RSS news feeds... News feeds allow you to see when websites have added new content. You can get the latest headlines and video in one place, as soon as it’s published, without having to visit the websites you have taken the feed from. Feeds are also known as RSS. There is some discussion as to what RSS stands for, but most people plump for 'Really Simple Syndication'. In essence, the feeds themselves are just web pages, designed to be read by computers rather than people.
How do I start using feeds?In general, the first thing you need is something called a news reader This is a piece of software that checks the feeds and lets you read any new articles that have been added. There are many different versions, some of which are accessed using a browser, and some of which are downloadable applications. Google allows you to set up a personalised homepage to receive your RSS feeds on.
The RSS Icon
Browser-based news readers let you catch up with your RSS feed subscriptions from any computer, whereas downloadable applications let you store them on your main computer, in the same way that you either download your e-mail using Outlook, or keep it on a web-based service like Hotmail.
Once you have chosen a news reader, all you have to do is to decide what content you want it to receive. For example, if you would like the latest RadPro news stories, simply visit the home page and you will notice an orange button RSS button on the top.
If you click on the RSS button you can subscribe to the feed in various ways including using a Google homepage set up and personalised for your own use, by dragging the URL of the feed into your news reader or by cutting and pasting the same URL into a new feed in your news reader.
Most sites that offer feeds use a similar orange button, but some may just have a normal web link.
Most modern browsers, including Firefox, Opera, Internet Explorer and Safari, automatically check for feeds for you when you visit a website, and display the orange RSS icon when they find one. This can make subscribing to feeds much easier.
RadPro is launching an i-Phone APP so that you can receive all of the radiotherapy industry news daily on your i-Phone and so keep right up to date with the latest news and developments as they happen. Blackberry and Android phone interfaces may be made available if there is a demand, contact admin@RadPro.eu to be notified when this APP is ready for general release if you have not done so as yet.
Twitter and facebook... RadPro uses Twitter to remind readers about the editorial and clinical feature content of its upcoming e-news editions or release important information and facebook to publish the monthly e-Lectron e-news and our editorial reminders.
Follow RadPro on Twitter www.Twitter.com/radprowebsite
and on facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/RadPro/94290354634?ref=mf
A general radiotherapy news update for the holidays!
OSL eyes Europe with own suite of RT solutions
Oncology Systems Limited has confirmed that it will be exhibiting its own products at ESTRO 2012 in Barcelona, 9-13 May 2012. The company will showcase its new flagship automated workflow software, OnQ rts, alongside ImSimQA, virtual phantom QA software; and the world’s first relocatable complete radiotherapy suite, Pioneer and OSL Remote planning and QA services.
Julie Mead, OSL clinical director said: “With new products about to come online, we dipped our toe in the water at ESTRO 2011 in London. We had such a positive response to our new products from radiographers and medical physicists across Europe, that plans are firmly underway for a larger presence at ESTRO.” For more information go to: www.OSL.uk.com.
To read more about OSL at ESTRO click here: PDF1
Zephyr Patient Transport System
Diacor, leaders in patient immobilisation technology for radiotherapy treatment, are proud to announce a completely new look at the age old problem of keeping patients still between CT or MRI scanning and the linac.
Cross sectional image based treatment planning has demonstrated its value of providing complete 3D structure definition and dose volume histogram analysis for high dose rate (HDR) treatments but most facilities lack the ability to perform imaging and HDR treatments within the same, dedicated room.
Most centres require movement of the patient from the scanner to the HDR suite for treatment and patient transportation becomes even more challenging with multiple transfers of the patient, from scanner table to patient stretcher to HDR treatment table, which enhance the already high risk for applicator movement and possibly extreme patient discomfort.
To read more about patient transport systems click here: PDF2
Renovation of Radiation Oncology Department at Addenbrooke’s Hospital Includes First-time Addition of Elekta Solutions
U.K. medical center acquires two Elekta Synergy treatment systems, MOSAIQ oncology information system and image guided radiation therapy workspace.
The radiation oncology department at internationally renowned Addenbrooke’s Hospital (Cambridge, U.K.) is upgrading its radiotherapy capabilities with Elekta therapy systems, oncology information system (OIS) and image guided workspace. The two Elekta Synergy® image guided radiation therapy (IGRT) systems replace one Siemens linear accelerator and one Varian linear accelerator that had been in service for more than 10 years at the medical center, which is run by the Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Officials at Addenbrooke’s have been eager to more fully exploit techniques and technologies that modern treatment machines provide, according to Simon Thomas, Ph.D., head of radiotherapy physics at Addenbrooke’s. Currently, the medical center treats between 200 and 250 patients each day on seven treatment machines.
To read more click on this weblink: http://www.elekta.com/healthcare_international_press_release_20071324.php
Wellington Hospital, New Zealand Becomes First in Southern Hemisphere to Offer Patients Fast and Precise TrueBeam Treatments
Clinicians at one of New Zealand’s leading hospitals have delivered more than 300 radiotherapy treatments using a newly-installed treatments. The first patient in the country – and the southern hemisphere -- to be treated using the TrueBeam device was an 18-year-old man with Hodgkin’s disease. “He commented on the speed with which the treatment was delivered and was enthusiastic to be our first patient treated on TrueBeam,” says Jennifer de Ridder, radiation therapist team leader at Wellington Hospital.
“Many of our patients have commented on the speed of their treatments, which is a significant factor for those who are immobilized during treatment.”TrueBeam™ device in the first month of its implementation. The TrueBeam system from Varian Medical Systems (NYSE:VAR) adds to Wellington Hospital’s radiotherapy capabilities and enables fast, precise and efficient.
To read more about TrueBeam click here: PDF3
Work begins on new image-guided radiotherapy centre in Nottingham
Cancer Partners UK is very pleased to announce that construction has started on their fifth radiotherapy centre. Located within the grounds of BMI The Park Hospital in Nottingham, the high-tech radiotherapy unit will form part of an integrated cancer centre and marks the beginning of a new partnership between Cancer Partners UK and BMI Healthcare.
The first of its kind in the region, the state-of-the-art cancer centre will combine a range of cancer technologies and treatments and will offer patients from Nottinghamshire and beyond fast access to the best possible cancer care and the latest in innovative treatments from summer 2012.
To read more click on this weblink: http://www.cancerpartnersuk.org/news/work-begins-on-new-image-guided-radiotherapy-centre-in-nottingham
To apply for job vacancies at this new centre visit: http://www.radpro.org.uk/jobs/employment.php
NELCO recently complete a new Radiotherapy bunker at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading using pre-cast blocks
NELCO set up its European office two years ago to cover the European market and has been actively supporting customers in a wide range of projects since.
The latest project to be satisfactorily completed was a Radiotherapy bunker at the Royal Berks Hospital in Reading. The bunker posed a number of unique challenges which NELCO together with the main contractor Kier Moss and the Trusts RPA Dr John Crossman solved to everyone’s satisfaction.
The overriding issue to be solved was the safety of the staff that would operate the facility once the project was handed over. The bunker was to be located next to an existing bunker and the control room for the new facility was to be located between the two bunkers. With two thirds of the allowable radiation dose being already utilized by the existing facility the new bunker had to provide a very high level of protection to ensure the limits were not exceeded.
To read more about this project click here: PDF4 or visit www.nelcoworldwide.com
Medsuro to distribute OSL’s ImSimQA
Oncology Systems Limited has signed up MedSuro Medical Equipment to distribute its ImSimQA software in the Netherlands. The organisation, based near Tilburg, was founded in 2010 and supplies equipment to the country’s radiotherapy departments.
Dean Willems, OSL product specialist said: “It’s great to welcome on board Medsuro. Its vast experience working in radiotherapy departments and the commercial sector, make it the perfect partner for OSL in the Netherlands.”
ImSimQA’s most advanced functionality to date was launched on 19 December 2011, with more extensive QA tools for testing techniques such as deformable image registration and atlas-based auto contouring that are now essential for IMRT, ART, IGRT and SBRT. For more information go to: www.OSL.uk.com
To read more about this story click here: PDF5
KLAS Oncology Report: Elekta's MOSAIQ Oncology Information System is 2011's No. 1 Oncology Software Solution
Among oncology software products, customers ranked Elekta first for its MOSAIQ® Oncology Information System (OIS) in a survey by KLAS, an independent research firm. The recently released 2011 Best in KLAS Awards: Software & Services* report showed that MOSAIQ scored 79.1 out of 100 and 88 percent of customers indicated they would buy again.
The report, which puts MOSAIQ at the top for 2011, is a summary of performance data collected over the past 12 months and ranks the top overall vendors, as well as leaders in each market segment.
To read more about Mosaiq and this survey click here: PDF6
A new water bath from Vertec for heating thermoplastics
The new Vertec Universal Waterbath was designed to meet the needs of radiotherapy professionals.
Very affordable, the bath is built in the UK and incorporates some unique features such as a high powered heating element to facilitate reduced heat up times and improve the uniform water temperature (uniformity +/- 0.1oc), a 1oC incremental digital control for quick and easy operation including a memory of the last temperature setting before switch off, an automatic safety cut-off and a temperature warning alarm.
To read more and see a picture click here: PDF7
UK Clinicians Pass 200th Patient Milestone for Advanced Treatment Methods for Lung Cancer
Doctors at the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust better visualize moving lung tumors with latest tools for image-guided stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT).
Setting the pace in the United Kingdom for lung SBRT treatments, clinicians at the St. James’s University Hospital are becoming increasingly adept in managing respiratory motion and accurately targeting mobile lung tumors, a difficult task before the introduction of advanced technology. For many of the more than 200 patients treated, St. James’s doctors have used Elekta’s Symmetry™ solution, 4D image guidance technology that enables clear visualization of moving targets.
To read more click on this weblink: http://www.elekta.com/healthcare_international_press_release_20071319.php
Centre Val d’Aurelle Becomes First Hospital in France to Deliver Advanced Radiotherapy Treatments Using TrueBeam
Leading Cancer Center in Montpellier Commences Treatments on First of Three TrueBeam Devices
A 19-year-old brain tumor patient has become the first person in France to be treated using the highly advanced TrueBeam™ radiotherapy treatment system from Varian Medical Systems (NYSE:VAR). The male patient’s cerebral glioblastoma was treated quickly and efficiently at the Cancer Research Center of Languedoc-Roussillon at the Centre Val d’Aurelle, Montpellier.
Following this initial treatment, dozens more patients have been treated using the newly-deployed device, one of three acquired by the hospital.
To read more click here: PDF8
OSL wins Cortex contract
Oncology Systems Limited has signed a five year distribution deal with US-based fiducial marker manufacturer Cortex. The contract will see OSL sell the advanced implanted marker line in the UK and Ireland. Across the same territory, OSL also sells CIVCO’s range of fiducial markers and the Gold Anchor fine needle marker from Sweden’s Naslund Medical.
Stuart Baldwin, OSL’s sales director said: “This revolutionary new range of advanced markers complements our existing offerings and gives us the flexibility to offer a complete solution for all treatment sites and imaging modalities including new breast markers and markers that show up equally well in both CT and MR. The Cortex range offers some interesting new benefits for treatment delivery, which from previous conversations in many radiotherapy departments, will be of great interest to users.”
For more information go to: www.OSL.uk.com
Elekta's Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion Earns Nearly Perfect Score in 2011 KLAS Radiation Therapy Report
Perfexion and Elekta Infinity at top of customer rankings in report*
With a score of 94.4 out of 100, Elekta's Leksell Gamma Knife® Perfexion™ is "practically perfect in every way," ranking at the top among six advanced radiation therapy systems, according to KLAS research firm's recently released customer survey, Radiation Therapy 2011: A Dose of New Technology. The Elekta Infinity™ radiation treatment system garnered the #2 ranking with a score of 84.4, improving its score over the 2010 report.
To read more about Gamma Knife click here: PDF10
OSL secures supply chain success
Oncology Systems Limited is pleased to announce that following the NHS Supply Chain tender exercise its broad range of solutions for radiotherapy are available under the new National Framework Agreement for the Supply of Imaging, Radiotherapy and Ancillary Devices. The agreement runs from 5 December 2011 until 4 December 2013 with an option to extend for a further two years.
Managing more than four million orders per year, across 120,000 order points and 10,000 locations, NHS Supply Chain gives customers a single point of access to over 600,000 products.
Carl Pavey, OSL’s managing director said: “NHS Supply Chain is accounting for a greater proportion of our business year-on-year and we are pleased to be included in the new Framework.
To read more click here: PDF11 or visit www.OSL.uk.com
Leading radiotherapy news in the press and media
Cancer patients to get cutting edge proton beam therapy in the UK
- Patients currently sent overseas for treatment
- Health Secretary will today unveil new £150m service on the NHS
- Proton beams target tumours with minimal damage to surrounding tissue
- Has higher success rates, reduced side-effects and quicker recovery
Health Secretary Andrew Lansley will today unveil plans for a £150million proton beam therapy service on the NHS. Patients currently sent abroad for a cancer treatment could soon get it at home, the Government has announced. Health Secretary Andrew Lansley plans to invest up to £150million in a new proton beam therapy service for the NHS, which he says could benefit up to 1,500 patients a year.
Proton beam therapy is a recent technology that uses charged particles instead of X-rays to deliver a dose of radiotherapy for patients suffering from cancer.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2073401/Cancer-patients-given-revolutionary-proton-beam-therapy-UK-instead-sent-abroad.html#ixzz1hGwWzDjI
Click on the link for the latest radiotherapy jobs: http://www.radpro.org.uk/jobs/employment.php
The new CPD and Education Blog is now active with contributions from leading radiotherapy professionals. To comment on a Blog all you have to do is click on the “Make Comment” icon under each Blog and type!
Click on this link to view or contribute to the new RadPro CPD and Education Blog site and to find out more about CPD courses, professional interests or to create your own: http://www.radpro.org.uk/wp/
www.CompareRad.com the first Radiotherapy and Radiology product comparison website and one stop shop.
February: Prostate and Breast cancer treatment news, editorial deadline is Monday 30th January.
March: Patient immobilisation systems and accessories
April: Advances in treatment delivery systems
May: Treatment planning and virtual simulation systems update
Email us to suggest a feature of your choosing please.
Please send you editorial, corporate or clinical, suggestions and any questions to admin@RadPro.eu
Duncan Hynd, January 2012