14/05/2023
Varian Halcyon Intelligent Rapid Tumor Radiotherapy - High Precision Radiotherapy System——Opening a New Era of Accurate, Fast, and comfortable Radiotherapy❤️
In the field of tumor radiotherapy, when we talk about "precision", we mainly refer to two aspects: precise treatment positioning and precise treatment dosage. This is like sniper warfare, not only to ensure that bullets can accurately hit the target, but also to concentrate the energy dose and be powerful enough to kill in one shot. In tumor radiotherapy, precise positioning is more important than precise dosage, because once the irradiation deviates from the target area, not only does it not reach the tumor target area, but the tumor cannot be controlled. The deviated irradiation can also cause serious damage and side effects to normal tissues.
The new Halcyon intelligent radiotherapy system for Vali Safety was installed and used in China two years ago. Its highlight is that it achieves 100% image guided radiotherapy (IGRT), which locks in the position of the tumor throughout the entire radiotherapy process, ensuring that "bullets can accurately hit the target.
The Varian Halcyon Rapid and Accurate Intelligent Radiotherapy System has the following characteristics:👇👇❤️
1．The reason why Halcyon radiotherapy equipment is fast is because the equipment group is equipped with a complex high-speed rotating ring-shaped frame with a machine head
Through the design of a circular frame, Halcyon has achieved mechanical performance improvement and software algorithm upgrades, achieving a frame rotation speed of 400%. Compared with other circular radiation therapy systems, Halcyon not only supports multiple imaging modes, including MV and kV level imaging, but also requires only a short image acquisition time of over ten seconds. By mandating the use of IGRT for every treatment, the accuracy of radiation therapy has been greatly improved. The circular frame design also greatly improves the treatment speed. For example, the dual arc RapidArc treatment technology accelerates the frame speed, reducing the original 20-30 minute irradiation time to only 2-4 minutes.
2. Halcyon's accuracy is due to the installation of a double-layer multi leaf collimator inside the machine
Halcyon is creatively equipped with Varian's unique "Twin Star" double-layer high-speed multi leaf collimator system, which adopts a double-layer staggered design and has a very low leakage rate. In addition, the upper and lower layers of leaves can follow each other one-on-one, which reduces the dose at the target boundary. Through these innovative designs, Halcyon has greatly improved the quality of its plans.
3. Comfort during Halcyon radiotherapy
For a long time, the comfort of patients has not been given much attention in radiation therapy equipment. Halcyon took a comprehensive consideration of the patient's treatment comfort at the beginning of the design. Firstly, the rack adopts a large aperture design of 100cm, which not only has unlimited indications but also greatly reduces the patient's sense of claustrophobia; Secondly, Halcyon's treatment bed is equipped with a real-time monitoring system, and the patient's condition is constantly monitored by the therapist to ensure treatment safety; In addition, the body is also equipped with a noise reduction intercom system, which facilitates real-time communication with patients and therapists; Finally, unlike other circular rack devices, Halcyon adopts a water-cooled cooling design, making the treatment room very quiet. At the same time, the shortening of treatment time also avoids the patient's prolonged forced posture, greatly improving the comfort of the treatment process.
4. Halcyon's intelligence comes from the automation of its control system
Inspired by Apple, Halcyon completely abandoned the traditional manual control box and replaced it with a user-friendly button system and touch screen, known as the Blu ray guidance system. During the operation process of medical workers, the button for the next step will automatically light up after each step is completed, making the workflow very concise and intuitive, making learning easier and greatly reducing the occurrence of incorrect buttons.
5. Automated operating system to avoid misoperation
Halcyon not only has a stylish appearance, but also has a built-in machine performance check and operation instruction system. Many QA tasks, including morning checks, can be completed automatically in a few minutes, making data easy to calculate. Tens of thousands of sensors can interact with Varian Remote Operations Center in real-time when connected, making it a typical application of IoT technology in radiotherapy. Walian after-sales service engineers from thousands of miles away can analyze data and provide early warnings before equipment malfunctions, significantly improving startup rates.
6. Internet configuration to interconnect with Varian Center and various imaging guidance and treatment equipment
In terms of device performance, the significant difference between Halcyon and other circular radiation therapy systems is that it is globally beam matched and naturally has data exchange paths with all other Varian devices, both software and hardware are interconnected. It is not easy to achieve this, but the clinical value it brings is enormous. It not only greatly reduces the cost of modeling treatment plans, but also has the same ex*****on effect on each Halcyon for the same treatment plan.
Summary:👇👇👇
Through the four keywords of "circular frame", "double layer multi leaf collimator", "comfort", and "wisdom", we have experienced the advantages of Halcyon: the design of the circular frame and the double layer multi leaf collimator together ensure high accuracy and quality of radiation therapy, and the design of intelligent empowerment and humanistic care is impressive. I believe Halcyon will take on the responsibility of popularizing precision radiation therapy in China, helping healthcare workers create a world free from cancer!
