Varian introduces Halcyon system

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Sounds like it. I remember tomo introduced something awhile back that allowed the gantry to be stopped to treat static fields. I imagine something like that might be able to be done here.

Bigger question is what do places do for electrons if they only have this one machine....
 
Have to say, demo looks pretty cool... seems like could have pretty high throughput..
 
I think it's all about throughput here.

It's not going to be a good machine as a single-linac type of situation (no electrons, only 6X energy). But if you have a busy department and need between 2-3 machines, then this one might be good to treat a bunch of patients quickly and have only two linacs where without that speed you may need three machines.
 
"Halcyon" doesn't quite roll of the tongue the way "Tomo" does.

Nobody's going to say: "We're going to Halcyon that guy's tumor." "He got 35 fractions of Halcyon." "I Halcyoned that bitch and now he's NED!"
 
I mean getting a CBCT in 15 seconds instead of like 5 minutes would be a big time saver by itself.

But yes, appears to be Varian's answer to Tomo.
 
Does anyone know how "big" the maximal field size on that MLC of the Halkyon is? In the broschure it says something about a double layer MLC, but I don't really get it. What's the maximum field size you can treat with it?
It seems like an impressive machine and its fast CBCT will be helpful for treating for example brain tumors or a prostate, but will it also work for larger volumes?

The way I see it, it's not a Tomo-clone but rather a a clone of the Brainlab VERO system, which is (as far as I know) not that popular:
 
vero can do non coplanar beams, I am not sure if tomo can or halkyon could?
 
medgator said:
Sounds like it. I remember tomo introduced something awhile back that allowed the gantry to be stopped to treat static fields. I imagine something like that might be able to be done here.

Bigger question is what do places do for electrons if they only have this one machine....
Click to expand...
That's the Tomo Direct feature.

Electrons can be helpful in a few cases but nowadays I see less and less electron patients in our clinic.
Breast boosts after BCS are treated with 3-4 photon fields and the classic mixed electron-photon techniques (like electrons for inguinal nodes in anal/vulvar cancer) are being replaced by IMRT/VMAT.
 
Palex80 said:
That's the Tomo Direct feature.

Electrons can be helpful in a few cases but nowadays I see less and less electron patients in our clinic.
Breast boosts after BCS are treated with 3-4 photon fields and the classic mixed electron-photon techniques (like electrons for inguinal nodes in anal/vulvar cancer) are being replaced by IMRT/VMAT.
Click to expand...

Tangent boost after BCS is possible, but a rarity in my experience. 3 to 4 photon fields for the boost? What sort of angles does it come at?

Otherwise do agree that stuff that used photon/electron matching is now easier to do with IMRT.
 
Palex80 said:
That's the Tomo Direct feature.

Electrons can be helpful in a few cases but nowadays I see less and less electron patients in our clinic.
Breast boosts after BCS are treated with 3-4 photon fields and the classic mixed electron-photon techniques (like electrons for inguinal nodes in anal/vulvar cancer) are being replaced by IMRT/VMAT.
Click to expand...
And skin ca with HDR brachy? We see a lot of skin and still use electrons for all of them
 
evilbooyaa said:
Tangent boost after BCS is possible, but a rarity in my experience. 3 to 4 photon fields for the boost? What sort of angles does it come at?

Otherwise do agree that stuff that used photon/electron matching is now easier to do with IMRT.
Click to expand...
For a right sided breast let's say 260°, 300°, 340° for example. It's basically dependent on where it is, so there is no "standard" field setup.
 
medgator said:
And skin ca with HDR brachy? We see a lot of skin and still use electrons for all of them
Click to expand...
We still have one of these fancy orthovolt machines with up to 100kV and can use that for superficial lesions. It saves Linac slots and you only need one technician to operate it.
 
Halcyon.

Weird branding. It means peaceful, happy days *in the past*. Also, "Halcion" (pronounced the same) is brand name for a benzodiazepene drug, typically used for insomnia.
 
One of our physics guy was talking about this machine's "Patented dual-layer MLC for fast beam modulation." Not sure what advantages there would be with that but it sure sounds cool.
 
Essentially treats fast VMAT. Something like gantry can do 4RPM. Rather than slice-by-slice like Tomo, treats a large field size (like 20-30 cm) and does some rapid arcs. Urorads gonna love this. Single-digit minute treatment slots!
 
PruritisAni said:
Essentially treats fast VMAT. Something like gantry can do 4RPM. Rather than slice-by-slice like Tomo, treats a large field size (like 20-30 cm) and does some rapid arcs. Urorads gonna love this. Single-digit minute treatment slots!
Click to expand...
Until astro finally convinces cms to split out prostate into a "simple" imrt code
 
medgator said:
Until astro finally convinces cms to split out prostate into a "simple" imrt code
Click to expand...

Y would they ever do this? It's self-defeating. Hey CMS, please give our departments (let's face it, it's an academic body) less money. On the other hand, ASTRO just might be dumb enough.
 
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