WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Varian Medical Systems (VAR) Monday said it has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or FDA for a Calypso soft tissue Beacon transponder, that can help enhance the precision of radiotherapy and radio surgery treatments for cancer.
Calypso Beacon transponders emit a non-ionizing electromagnetic signal that is tracked in real time by the Calypso system, in order to guide treatment beams to precisely target tumors during radiotherapy and radio surgery with medical linear accelerators, such as Varian's Edge radiosurgery system.
The company said that a previous version of the Calypso Beacon transponder was cleared for specific use in the prostate and prostatic bed. Now, the new clearance makes the system applicable for many other types of cancer.
'Initial use of the new device is expected towards the end of the year,' said Corey Zankowski, vice president of product management at Varian. 'We anticipate full commercial roll-out of the product sometime next year', he added.
Presently, Calypso soft tissue Beacon transponders are cleared only for the U.S. market.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX