Varian to
equip Swedish
hospital with
new systems
and software
Norway invests in safer winter
roads using connected cars
V
arian has announced it has signed
an agreement with the Stockholm
City Council to provide equipment and
related services to the radiation therapy
department of the New Karolinska Solna
(NKS) hospital in Stockholm, Sweden with
eight TrueBeam radiotherapy systems for
advanced cancer treatment. The contract
for this tender, originally awarded to but
unfulfilled by a competitive solution, also
includes a multiyear service agreement as
well as Varian providing its ARIA oncology
information system and Eclipse treatment
planning software. Installations of the
new systems are expected to begin in the
coming weeks.
“We are very honoured the Stockholm
City Council and NKS has selected Varian
as its partner to equip the new radiation
department with our advanced treatment
systems and software,” said Kolleen Kennedy,
President of Varian’s Oncology Systems
Business. “We look forward to continuing
over 10 years of close collaboration with
the thought-leading clinicians and medical
physicists at the Karolinska Institute to
expand cancer care at NKS to more patients
and work towards creating a world without
fear of cancer.”
T
he Norwegian road authority Norska
Statens Vegvesen invests in new
technology for winter road prognosis
from Klimator and NIRA Dynamics, Road
Status Information.
Varian’s TrueBeam family of medical
linear accelerators incorporate numerous
technical innovations that dynamically
synchronise imaging, patient positioning,
motion management and treatment
delivery during a radiotherapy or
radiosurgery procedure. RSI is software which, through advanced
algorithms, combines the data from
connected vehicles with information
from roadside weather stations
and weather forecasts. That makes
connected vehicles rolling weather
stations which transmit various signals
including current road friction which is
the key to determine local road grip.
ARIA is a comprehensive electronic medical
record and image management system
that aggregates patient data into an
organised, oncology-specific medical chart
with functional components for managing
clinical, administrative and financial
operations for medical, radiation and
surgical oncology. The ARIA system provides
a seamless flow of information for managing
the patient’s entire journey, from diagnosis
through follow-up. RSI manages to determine the road grip
conditions in real time with high precision
and creates accurate 12h forecasts. This
enables an increased safety on wintery
roads, a significant environmental benefit
and cost savings through the more
efficient use of winter service resources
(road salt consumption, driven miles in
salt trucks, etc.).
www.intelligentcio.com
“This technology quantum leap is overdue
in the business to make use of new
opportunities and meet the road users’
expectations. We have tested the new
technology and are confident that RSI is
the best performing solution,” explained
Torgeir Vaa from Norska Statens Vegvesen.
The vehicles are connected via NIRA-
developed OBD-dongles and register
current position, ambient temperature,
wiper activity and road friction. It takes
only a few minutes to equip a vehicle and
shortly after, the data is continuously
available on the RSI-server.
“We are inspired by our successful tire
pressure monitoring system which is
installed in over 40 million vehicles
around the world. A few years from
now, OBD-dongles will be replaced by
small software modules standard-fitted
into connected vehicles,” added Gustav
Kristiansson, Manager New Technologies
at NIRA Dynamics.
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