Novalis Tx™
Frequently Asked Questions

Please click the question below to display the answer.

What is Novalis Tx™?
Why is fast treatment important?
What is the advantage of shaped beam radiosurgery?
What effect is the radiation likely to have on my disease?
Will there be any side effects?
What is radiotherapy?
What is radiosurgery?
What is the difference between stereotactic radiosurgery and fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy?

What is Novalis Tx?

Novalis Tx uses image-guided radiosurgery (IGRS) to quickly deliver precisely focused, high-energy radiation to a localized area to destroy tumors throughout the body that often cannot be treated using traditional surgery, including some malignant and benign tumors, brain metastases (spread of cancer from other parts of the body to the brain), arteriovenous malformations (a defect of the body's circulatory system) and other conditions such as trigeminal neuralgia (a disorder of a specific nerve in the brain that causes intense facial pain).

Why is fast treatment important?

There are two reasons why short treatment times can be important-treatment accuracy and patient comfort. The length of treatments with some devices can be extreme, lasting an hour or more, during which the patient must lie as still as possible. Prolonged treatment times can make the entire process even more stressful, and some physicians recommend practicing meditation during the procedure or even prescribe a sedative. Reducing the treatment time also minimizes the time where the patient may make small movements that can affect the overall accuracy of the treatment.

Novalis Tx is optimized for the fastest treatment delivery, improving both patient comfort and treatment accuracy. A Novalis Tx treatment or fraction typically lasts only 15-20 minutes. Throughout treatment, Novalis Tx continuously tracks any micro patient movement and allows for automatic adjustment, ultimately increasing the level of accuracy.

What is the advantage of shaped beam radiosurgery?

Traditionally, circular beams are used for radiosurgery. The resulting dose of such an approach is a spherical dose volume. As most lesions are very irregular in shape, several spherical dose volumes have to be composed together to cover the complex tumor shape. Other systems try to move the circular beam to "paint" the dose into the tumor volume over time. Both approaches are time-consuming and do not ideally tailor the dose to the exact shape of the tumor. This can result in lower than desired irradiation to parts of the tumor and higher than desired irradiation to healthy tissue. Novalis Tx has set a new standard with the most precise beam shaping technology available, shaping each treatment beam to contour the exact shape of the tumor and avoiding normal tissue with highly accurate and homogeneous doses.

What effect is the radiation likely to have on my disease?

With radiosurgery and radiotherapy, high-energy radiation beams aim to destroy tumor cells by damaging the cells and causing them to die. Visible results, as seen on a follow-up scan, might include shrinkage of the tumor or the cessation of further tumor growth. Because cell destruction and the absorption of the cells within your system is a lengthy process, it can take up to six months before the effect of the treatment is visible on a follow-up image.

Will there be any side effects?

The procedure itself is not painful. Side effects that you might experience immediately following treatment include headache and dizziness. Your doctor will discuss with you specific side effects that may occur depending on your overall treatment plan.

What is radiotherapy?

Radiation therapy, or radiotherapy, is the use of high-energy radiation from x-rays, gamma rays, neutrons, and other sources to destroy cancer cells and shrink tumors. Radiation may come from a machine outside the body (external-beam radiation therapy), or it may come from radioactive material placed in the body near cancer cells (internal radiation therapy, implant radiation, or brachytherapy). Systemic radiation therapy uses a radioactive substance, such as a radiolabeled monoclonal antibody, that circulates throughout the body. Fractionated radiotherapy is administered in a series of treatment sessions over a specified period of time.

What is radiosurgery?

Radiosurgery is a radiation therapy procedure that uses a special system to precisely deliver a large radiation dose to a tumor over one to five treatment sessions. The goal of this non-invasive procedure is to destroy the target without surgery or harming nearby healthy tissue. It is used to treat various types of cancer such as tumors in the brain, spine, lung, liver and prostate as well as some other non-cancerous disorders. It is also called radiation surgery, stereotactic external-beam radiation, stereotactic radiation therapy, stereotactic radiosurgery, and stereotaxic radiosurgery.

What is the difference between stereotactic radiosurgery and fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy?

Radiation treatment of a tumor can either be applied in a single session with a high dose of radiation, also known as stereotactic radiosurgery, or in a series of treatments over a period of time, known as fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy. Fractionated radiotherapy involves similar total doses of radiation as radiosurgery, but the radiation is delivered in smaller amounts. Fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy allows the healthy tissue to recover from the impact of the radiation before the next treatment session.

Novalis Tx offers both stereotactic radiosurgery and fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy treatments. Unlike some systems, Novalis Tx can provide a very high number of fractions, which, studies have shown, are necessary for the best treatment of some tumors, protecting more healthy tissue. This is particularly true for tumors near auditory nerves, and the ability to spread the treatment over enough fractions can provide better treatment outcomes and preserve the patient's hearing.

Your doctors will recommend the technique most appropriate for you, depending on the size and location of your tumor. For fractionated treatments, a face mask is worn. Each face mask is formed to contour to the exact shape of the patient's head and will be used for each treatment fraction.

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