CLEVELAND, Feb. 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- ViewRay, Inc. (Nasdaq: VRAY) announced today that Edogawa Hospital in Tokyo is the first hospital in Japan to treat patients with the MRIdian Linac System. Edogawa Hospital began treating patients in 2018 on the MRIdian cobalt system. The upgrade to MRIdian Linac combines MRI-guidance with a linear accelerator for faster and more accurate delivery of radiation therapy.
"I am very pleased that Edogawa Hospital has the first MRIdian Linac in Japan. With this system, we can shorten the treatment time not only for our focused treatment areas such as pancreatic and lung cancers, but we can also treat patients with a wider range of cancers," said Dr. Yukihiro Hama, Head of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Edogawa Hospital. "In addition to local Japanese patients, we have been actively treating foreign patients and believe that MRIdian Linac will enable us to contribute to society more effectively by improving patients' quality of life."
Unlike conventional radiation therapy systems, MRIdian combines MR imaging and radiation therapy in one system. This combination allows physicians to define treatment margins based on MR images of patient anatomy in support of the delivery of safe and effective radiotherapy -- including stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT), which utilizes ablative, high-doses in five or fewer treatment sessions. MRIdian enables continuous tracking of the target and surrounding soft tissues without fiducial markers, adaptation of therapy in response to daily anatomical changes, and automatic pausing of the radiation (beam gating) if the target moves outside of the user-defined boundary. This allows for delivery of the prescribed dose to the target while sparing surrounding healthy tissue and critical structures, potentially minimizing toxicities typically associated with radiation therapy.
Previously, ViewRay announced that the company had received Shonin approval from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) to market the MRIdian Linac System featuring a linear accelerator (Linac) for beam delivery. Its predecessor, the MRIdian cobalt system, was the first MRI-guided radiation therapy system to receive Shonin approval in Japan in August 2016. Subsequently two MRIdian cobalt systems were installed at Edogawa Hospital and the National Cancer Center Japan.
Currently, 41 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. MRIdian has been the subject of hundreds of peer-reviewed publications, scientific meeting abstracts, and presentations. More than 11,000 patients have been treated with MRIdian. For a list of treatment centers, please visit: https://viewray.com/find-mridian-mri-guided-radiation-therapy/
About ViewRay
ViewRay, Inc. (Nasdaq: VRAY), designs, manufactures and markets the MRIdian radiation therapy system. MRIdian is built upon a proprietary high-definition MR imaging system designed from the ground up to address the unique challenges and clinical workflow for advanced radiation oncology. Unlike MR systems used in diagnostic radiology, MRIdian's high-definition MR was purpose built to address specific challenges, including beam distortion, skin toxicity, and other concerns that potentially may arise when high magnetic fields interact with radiation beams. ViewRay and MRIdian are registered trademarks of ViewRay, Inc.
ViewRay is a medical device manufacturer and cannot and does not recommend specific treatment approaches. Individual results may vary. The results described herein may not be predictive
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. Statements in this press release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements include, among other things, the rate of new orders, upgrades, and installations, ViewRay's anticipated future operating and financial performance, and ViewRay's conference calls to discuss its quarterly results. Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. Such factors include, among others, the ability to commercialize MRIdian Linac System, demand for ViewRay's products, the ability to convert backlog into revenue, the timing of delivery of ViewRay's products, the timing, length, and severity of the recent COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, including its impacts across our businesses on demand, operations and our global supply chains, the results and other uncertainties associated with clinical trials, the ability to raise the additional funding needed to continue to pursue ViewRay's business and product development plans, the inherent uncertainties associated with developing new products or technologies, competition in the industry in which ViewRay operates, and overall market conditions. For a further description of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to ViewRay's business in general, see ViewRay's current and future reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 and its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, as updated periodically with the company's other filings with the SEC. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release, and ViewRay assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements, except as required by law.
