Heidelberg University Hospital Treats First Patient Using Carbon Ion Therapy With RayStation

STOCKHOLM, Aug. 14, 2019

HIT has long expertise in advanced radiation therapy techniques and has been performing proton therapy and carbon ion therapy for the past 10 years. The center is now replacing its existing treatment planning system for protons and carbon ions and aims to use RayStation exclusively. Heidelberg University Hospital also treats patients using TomoTherapy, which is the focus of another cooperation between HIT and RaySearch. In addition, the center aims to begin treating patients using helium ion therapy by 2020. RayStation enables treatment planning for all of these modalities with a single software platform.

The HIT facility is an in-house medical product integrating a particle accelerator, a rotating ion gantry and an IONTRIS delivery system from Siemens Healthcare. The setup includes three treatment rooms, two horizontal treatment rooms and one gantry for both carbon ion and proton therapy. The gantry is the world's first for carbon ion therapy. The facility has the capacity to treat up to 1000 patients per year using particle therapy.

Jürgen Debus, Professor and Chairman, radiation oncology at Heidelberg University Hospital, says: "Carbon ion treatment planning in RayStation offers us unique options to optimize our treatment plans along with proton and photon precision radiotherapy."

Johan Löf, CEO of RaySearch, says: "We are proud to see Heidelberg's first carbon ion treatment using RayStation, and it is gratifying that all European centers have now chosen RayStation for carbon ion therapy. We continue to pioneer support for the most advanced techniques, which offer outstanding benefits for patients."

About Heidelberg University Hospital

Heidelberg University is the oldest university in Germany; its first medical lectures were held here in 1388. Today, it is one of the largest and most prestigious medical centers in Europe, with a reputation based on excellent patient care, research and teaching. Heidelberg University Hospital offers inpatients and outpatients an innovative and effective diagnosis and therapy for all complex diseases. In modern buildings with state-of-the-art equipment specialized teams of physicians, technicians, engineers and physicists deliver medical care to the highest international standards. The proximity and interlinking of the specialist departments benefit the patient, with interdisciplinary cooperation ensuring optimal treatment.