Advances in radiotherapy over the last 40 years have made it possible to increase the radiation dose applied to tumors, while reducing complications by minimizing the dose to surrounding healthy tissue. Varian Medical Systems has helped to drive the evolution of this technology, from developing the first isocentric linear accelerator to launching today's SmartBeam ^™ system for high-resolution IMRT, introduced in early fiscal year 2000.

Varian's SmartBeam technology provides clinicians with the most advanced treatment equipment and software for the highest-resolution IMRT ever. For the first time, treatments can be digitally matched to diagnostic images that reveal disease activity within the cells. Using computer-generated 3-D images, physicians can now place precisely shaped volumetric beams of radiation into tumors and concentrate the dose to cancerous hot spots while targeting lower doses more broadly to prevent the disease from spreading. This precise control is enabling physicians to deliver more effective treatments with significantly higher cure rates.

"With high-resolution IMRT, the clinician can use a computer to optimize millions of treatment options. The risks and benefits of a range of radiation doses can be examined, so that the maximum, most effective dose of radiation can be delivered to the tumor while the minimum amount reaches healthy tissue. For cancer patients, this is a revolutionary development."
GEOFFREY DALBOW, VARIAN PHYSICIST