Elekta has announced that Elekta Unity, a transformative magnetic resonance radiation therapy (MR/RT) system that enables personalised precision radiation medicine, is in clinical use at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust. Elekta Unity combines two technologies: a state-of-the-art 1.5T MRI scanner and a best-in-class 7 MV linear accelerator, driven by breakthrough real-time adaptive radiotherapy software. It provides the ability to reshape the dose based on daily changes in shape, size and position of the tumour and surrounding healthy anatomy, as visualised with MRI, and then enables accurate dose delivery with real-time visualisation of the tumour.
“Tumours are mobile, and they can change in size, shape and location within the body as a result of treatment, disease progression or regression, and normal physiologic activity such as breathing and digestion,” said Professor Ananya Choudhury, Chair and Honorary Consultant in Clinical Oncology at the Christie NHS Trust Foundation. “Prior to Unity, we did not have the technology to assess these changes on a daily basis. Unity provides an exciting new capability to provide patients with the best and precise cancer care possible. As the most advanced approach to radiation therapy, Unity gives us the ability to adapt treatment in real time to optimise radiation delivery to the tumour while sparing nearby healthy tissue.”
“The Christie NHS Foundation Trust was a founding member of the global consortium that helped develop Unity. We are very enthusiastic about this new technology due to the ability to see what we treat in real time and the potential to improve our radiotherapy treatments,” said Professor Corinne Faivre-Finn, Honorary Consultant Clinical Oncologist and Professor of Thoracic Radiation Oncology at the Christie NHS Trust Foundation. “Not only will Unity allow more precise delivery of radiation in cancers typically treated with this important form of therapy, it will also open the door to using radiation therapy in hard-to-treat cancers. We are gratified to see our vision of next-generation radiation therapy realised and available now to the patients we serve.”
To learn more, visit elekta.com/Unity.
