Navigation
TREATMENT FOR TUMORS LOCATED WITHIN THE BODY
Step 1: Body Stabilizing
A custom body support-system is molded to you to ensure accurate positioning during your treatment. It does not interfere with breathing and is minimally confining. The body support- system device is also non-invasive and does not require any screws or other painful procedures. The patient's absolute position is monitored continuously by Novalis®, and the system can detect if there is any movement and can adjust accordingly.

Step 2: Diagnostic Imaging
A series of images – taken with computer tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), or both – are used to locate the tumor or lesions with precision accuracy, giving physicians the exact dimensions and parameters of the “target.” Novalis® precisely overlays all the images onto one another allowing the physician maximum information for designing the treatment plan.

Step 3: Treatment Planning
These images are then transferred to a computer, which creates a three-dimensional “picture” of the tumor within the body. The physician then uses the computer to devise a specific plan of attack to perform the surgery – all prior to the beginning of the actual procedure.

Step 4: Positioning and Treatment
Finally, you are placed in the same body support-system device used for the imaging procedures. Novalis® then confirms that you are in the exact proper position using digital cameras located in the treatment suite. Once treatment begins, the Novalis® machine will move around you, delivering the specified dose of radiation. You will feel no discomfort and your surgeon and radiation oncologist will be able to talk to you throughout the procedure, which only takes about 30 minutes.

Step 5: Treatment Completion
After your Novalis® Shaped Beam Surgery™ is complete, you are free to return home and resume all of your normal activities.

 
1

 

2

 

3

 

4

 

 

SHAPED BEAM SURGERY™ COULD AID VASCULAR TREATMENTS

Balloon angioplasty is the life-saving procedure by which a cardiologist inserts a small balloon catheter into arteries that have been clogged by fatty deposits. Inflating the balloon inside the artery helps restore normal blood flow to the vessel. While the procedure has tremendous patient benefits, it has a side effect. In certain cases, trauma to site where the balloon was inflated can cause scar tissue to form, once again narrowing the passageway and restricting blood flow.

    Now, doctors at the Cancer Center are exploring using Novalis® Shaped Beam Surgery™ to deliver low-doses of radiation to the exact location within the artery damaged by the balloon. The radiation prevents the cells in the wall of the artery from dividing, which causes the formation of unwanted scar tissue. This treatment should allow the artery to remain clear after the angioplasty.