Shaped Beam
Working with St. Peter's Cancer Care Center, we were the first in New York's greater Capital Region to offer patients one of the most sophisticated radiation therapy technologies available today—the Novalis® Shaped Beam System.
The system's high-resolution beam shaper targets tumors and lesions in the body with pinpoint precision. Because the tumor receives more uniform and precise doses of radiation, treatments are faster and more effective. Treatment time can last 15 to 45 minutes, and patients go home the same day.
Shaped Beam History
The shaped beam system was first implemented to treat brain tumors or lesions where pinpoint precision is required. This allowed medical professionals to focus radiation treatment directly on tumors or lesions—even those that were close to critical structures within the brain. The accuracy of the system is now being used to shrink or kill both benign and malignant tumors and lesions in the head and neck, spine, lung, and liver. In addition, some patients who have reached their maximum safe radiation doses may still be candidates for this type of therapy.
Treating Cancer and Non-Cancerous Conditions
Novalis® is used to treat both non-cancerous and cancerous conditions such as:
- arteriovenous malformations (AVM);
- cavernous angiomas;
- trigeminal neuralgia;
- intractable seizures;
- Parkinson's disease;
- brain metastases/gliomas;
- acoustic neuromas;
- recurrent brain tumors;
- pituitary adenomas;
- meningiomas of the skull base;
- craniopharygiomas;
- and spine, liver and lung tumors.
How It Works
Using robotics, guided-imaging and highly sophisticated computer software, clinicians target radiation beams at tumors in the body. The patient lies on a robotic couch that automatically aligns the radiation beams with the tumors. No head frame is needed for treating brain tumors. The patient breathes normally during the procedure because the system accounts for respiratory movement. The system's accuracy protects healthy tissue surrounding tumors, as well as, delicate structures such as the brainstem, spinal cord and optic nerves.
Benefits of the Novalis® System
- Extremely precise and uniform doses of radiation are delivered to the tumor.
- It's non-invasive, which means no incisions, no anesthesia and no scarring.
- It's painless and patients generally go home the same day.
- Treatment time lasts 15 to 45 minutes depending on tumor size. For some patients, only one treatment session may be required.