Varian Medical Systems Introducing OncoView(TM) - an Oncology Specific Image Management and Storage Solution
Product archives images and data generated during cancer treatments
CHICAGO, Nov. 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- RSNA Booth # 6221 -- Varian
Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR) today is introducing a new product that makes it
easier for clinicians to store, manage and view images generated during cancer
treatments. Varian will showcase its new OncoView(TM) image management and
storage solution at the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) meeting
in Chicago, November 30 - December 4, 2008.
"OncoView provides oncology professionals with a reliable, scalable way of
archiving and accessing the images and data that impact decisions about a
patient's course of treatment," said Karla Knott, senior director of marketing
for Varian's Oncology Systems business. "It is designed specifically to
archive information covering the entire cancer treatment process from
diagnosis to survivorship and follow-up."
Clinicians are using more images to make decisions and monitor progress
over the course of cancer treatments. For image-guided radiotherapy, new
images are generated at every step in the treatment process. "There is a vast
-- and growing -- amount of images and related information that must be
stored, and clinicians need a reliable system for easily archiving and
instantly accessing this information in a meaningful way that is connected to
the clinical "story line" for each patient," says Erwin Nell, manager, systems
marketing. "OncoView addresses this need. It supports archiving of the most
commonly used imaging modalities in oncology care, including CT, MR, PET, kV
X-rays, cone-beam CT, and electronic portal images. It also stores
non-imaging data, including radiotherapy treatment plans, dose levels, and
other important treatment details."
The OncoView product is an oncology-specific image management and storage
solution designed to supplement a hospital's existing picture archiving and
communication system (PACS) by making it 'oncology capable' or to operate as a
stand-alone solution for centers that don't have such a system. OncoView
enables clinicians to retrieve or store important information within its own
archive or within hospital PACS through industry standard communication
protocols such as HL7 and DICOM . It supports a trend in medicine toward
paperless and filmless clinical operations that speed workflow and improve
cost efficiencies.
"Most conventional PACS are not optimized to support oncology clinical
processes," Nell said. "For example, they cannot provide a viable means of
viewing the DICOM RT images that are used in radiotherapy treatment planning.
OncoView fills the gap. It also stores images in a way that connects them
with a patient's unique clinical 'story line,' showing the relationships
between images and clinical decisions in the context of an entire course of
treatment. Conventional PACS lack this functionality, which is crucial to
oncology care."
OncoView interfaces seamlessly with any standards-based clinical
information management system, including Varian's ARIA(TM) oncology
information system.
About Varian Medical Systems
Varian Medical Systems, Inc., of Palo Alto, California, is the world's
leading manufacturer of medical devices and software for treating cancer and
other medical conditions with radiotherapy, radiosurgery, proton therapy, and
brachytherapy. The company supplies informatics software for managing
comprehensive cancer clinics, radiotherapy centers and medical oncology
practices. Varian is a premier supplier of tubes and digital detectors for
X-ray imaging in medical, scientific, and industrial applications and also
supplies X-ray imaging products for cargo screening and industrial inspection.
Varian Medical Systems employs approximately 4,800 people who are located at
manufacturing sites in North America and Europe and in its 60 sales and
support offices around the world. For more information, visit
http://www.varian.com/.
