Oakwood Village, Ohio-based ViewRay, Inc. announces that 10,000 patients have been treated to date using the company’s MRIdian MRI-guided radiation therapy system, the first system to combine MR imaging with radiation delivery. Unlike conventional radiation therapy systems, MRIdian combines an MRI system with a radiation therapy system.

This feature, together with other technical innovations, offers advantages for the delivery of safe and effective radiotherapy. These features include the ability to see the tumor and surrounding tissue during treatment, adaptation of the therapy in response to changes in patient anatomy and tumor size between treatments, continuously track the tumor during treatment, and automatically pause the radiation if the tumor moves outside of the boundary. As a result, the system is able to deliver high-dose radiation to the tumor while protecting the surrounding healthy tissue from damage.

The world’s first MRI-guided radiation therapy treatment was performed six years ago on Jan. 15, 2014, at Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. 

“We’re proud to have played an integral role in the development and implementation of MRI-guided radiation therapy,” says Olga L. Green, PhD, chief of service for MRIgRT and director of the medical physics residency program at Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine. “The integration of MRI guidance, on-table adaptive radiotherapy, and real-time anatomy targeting has provided us with opportunities to expand treatment options for our patients over the last six years.”

Currently, 38 MRIdian systems are installed at hospitals around the world, where they are used to treat a wide variety of solid tumors and are the focus of numerous ongoing research efforts.