First Novalis Radiosurgery Programme in Ireland
Today, for the first time in Ireland, cancer patients can receive Novalis Radiosurgery treatment, with the opening of the Stereotactic Unit at St. Luke’s Radiation Oncology Centre at Beaumont Hospital. The technology, developed by Brainlab, offers new hope for cancer patients, many of whom have tumors that have been deemed inoperable. Novalis Radiosurgery delivers precise, painless, treatment, often in a single visit.
The Novalis® Radiosurgery technology makes it possible for doctors to treat patients with many types of tumors including cranial, spinal, head & neck, lung, liver and prostate as well as arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) and trigeminal neuralgia. Combining a highly precise patient positioning system with sophisticated treatment planning software, the Novalis Radiosurgery technology helps clinicians destroy cancerous cells while helping to protect surrounding healthy tissue. Treatment can also be made more patient-friendly by delivering frameless radiosurgery for brain tumors, an alternative to techniques that require immobilization with an invasive head ring* fixed to the skull.
The Novalis Radiosurgery technology is based at the St Luke’s Radiation Oncology Centre at Beaumont hospital, Dublin. Dublin joins a growing number of Novalis Radiosurgery Cancer Centres throughout Europe with only three centers available in the UK. This group of centers can share experiences and treatment techniques in their joint fight against cancers of the brain and body.
At the core of the Programme lies interdisciplinary collaboration between radiation therapy experts and critical subspecialties like neurosurgery, ENT and craniomaxillofacial (CMF) surgery. The combined technology – positioning system, treatment planning software, and linear accelerator – offers high precision and expands the range of treatment possibilities when compared to conventional options and methods.
Stefan Vilsmeier, President and CEO, Brainlab, said “Novalis Radiosurgery is a precise, non-invasive and versatile radiosurgery treatment available for cancerous and non-cancerous conditions of the entire body. The Novalis Radiosurgery Programme can give clinicians the ability to treat patients with cancers once considered untreatable and those for whom surgery is not an option, such as tumors deep in the brain. We are proud and pleased that patients in Ireland can now benefit from the technology.”
Novalis Radiosurgery offers an alternative or complement to other therapies. More than 300 hospitals worldwide use Novalis Radiosurgery and benefit from the experience of over a million treatments. The Programme provides patients across the globe access to what has become a standard in radiosurgery and stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT).
* Some doctors may opt for a minimally invasive head frame depending on the specific treatment and patient.