CT Option for Varian’s Respiratory Gating System

PALO ALTO, Calif–Varian Medical Systems, Inc. has been given the go-ahead to begin marketing the new CT Option for its RPM (Real-time Position Management) Respiratory Gating System. The FDA determined that it is a class 1 device exempt from premarket notification requirements.

Respiratory gating is a technique for making cancer radiotherapy more accurate and effective by adjusting for tumor movements caused by breathing. The Varian system “gates” or turns off the radiation beam when a tumor in the chest and abdomen moves outside a prescribed target area.

The CT Option extends respiratory gating to the CT scanner so that images acquired for treatment planning can be synchronized with the respiratory cycle. It is available as a component for Varian’s Clinac EX Platinum accelerator or as an upgrade to the company’s Clinac C series accelerators.