Before every Novalis Shaped Beam Surgery treatment, an individual and sophisticated treatment plan is established by a dedicated team of Novalis specialists.

High Resolution Beam Shaper

The Novalis Beam Shaper automatically tailors the shape of all radiation fields to precisely match the contour of the tumor (red object). This ensures critical structures are protected from radiation (eyes and optic nerves in orange). A maximum dose is delivered to the tumor with minimal irradiation of normal tissue.

Multiple Shaped Beam

Treatment with Novalis is accomplished with a number of beams of radiation, shaped to the exact form of the tumor. Multiple fields from different directions allow each individual beam to be of a low dose that together delivers the treatment dose prescribed to the tumor.

Dose Display for Plan Evaluation

The efficiency of the treatment plan can be visualized with the dose display that results from multiple shaped beams. An even and concentrated dose of radiation (orange shaded area) covers the entire volume of the tumor (red outline). Outside the tumor, dose falls off rapidly to ensure maximum protection of critical organs such as the brainstem (green outline) as well as normal tissue surrounding the tumor. Novalis Shaped Beam Surgery consistently delivers optimal treatment results, even for irregularly shaped tumors.

Novalis vs. Gamma Knife

1. Gamma Knife treatments can only be done for cranial lesions. Novalis can be used for both cranial and extra-cranial lesions such as spine, liver, pancreas or any other area.
2. Gamma Knife treatments are performed in a single fraction, using a head frame that is attached to the patient's skull. Novalis can be used for single fraction or multi fraction (fractionated) treatments, depending on the application. Some times, single fraction treatments will cause a greater risk for side effects than if the treatments are fractionated.
3. Novalis procedures take less time than Gamma Knife procedures so the Novalis unit can accommodate a higher patient load and the patient's will prefer the quicker method of treatment.