Guidant: Radiation Therapy

industry covers services and platforms with a vast variety of focal markets. The portion of the

In radiation therapy, certain treatment plans require a water-equivalent material called a bolus to raise the maximum dose buildup (Dmax) closer to the surface of the skin. One of the most common materials used to create this more superficial treatment dose is a commercial product called Superflab. Superflab is a manufactured vinyl gel material that is uniform in thickness, easy to cut, and reusable (Radiation Products Inc, 2010). Therapists use other materials in clinical settings, but there is currently very little research available comparing alternative bolus materials and their respective Dmax values. The limited amount of research that is available look at different materials such as wet gauze and other similar materials for their easy,

Traditionally, USA has been major market followed by Europe and Japan. The top 20 companies account for 77% of the market share (see figure 1). The HHI index is 378 indicating a highly competitive market. Porter’s 5 forces analysis indicate that:

I have always been interested in the medical field. My father is a physiotherapist and my mother has a bachelorette in Microbiology and is a laboratory technologist. I have grown up having science-themed discussions around the dinner table and books lying around the house. With the experience of my parents at their respected professions, I did not have the feeling that these paths were the correct fit for me. I liked the hands on side of physiotherapy but I wanted something more technology related. I searched the medical field for a career that combined my fascination for both human science and technology in addition to being able to interact with patients. My research on Radiation Therapy instantly established a thought that this is a career

There are several ways radiation therapy can be delivered. Radiation therapy can be external or internal. The most common way is by external radiation in which a radiation is directed at the tumor from a machine (Dollinger, Rosenbaum 62). Internal or systemic radiotherapy delivers radiation by giving a radioactive source intravenously or by injection (62). Depending on the type of cancer, some people are treated with both types of therapy.

The framework used in this note is organized around the estimates of industry demand, market share, costs, and performance. All data

In Year 8, a radiotherapist came into my school with a request - to help him develop a game to explain the process of radiotherapy to his patients. I decided to help out of curiosity, thinking that it would be interesting and that I'd learn something new. It was during the development process that I learnt my first lines of Python - which I now use extensively for my programs. That experience fueled my fascination with technology and its impact on the world around me, watching how the application of computing in other fields has bettered the lives of others.

These new and growing markets are now open for different equipment manufactures to build their presence.

Radiation therapy is a type of treatment modality that administers radiation to patients with cancer. This form of treatment has many components that contribute toward ensuring the malignant tissue within the body is being adequately treated. One of the major components in radiation therapy is the use of bolus. Bolus is a material placed on the skin to help bring the radiation dose higher to the skin surface within the patient (Khan 2012). Since there are no research studies in the radiation oncology field which compare alternative bolus materials in providing maximum dose build-up, the purpose of this study is to close this informational gap by comparing the following types of bolus: Superflab, neon-green Play-Doh, orange Play-Doh, and uncooked rice.

Opportunities: international market; co- operation with other bigger companies; launching of the new products; increasing tendency of the customer demand etc.

It was about 5 years ago that I first realized I wanted to become a doctor .We were invited over for lunch at my father’s colleague’s house. When we finished eating we got to meet his daughter, she was very beautiful and about 3 years my senior. She wore a beanie at home and upon realizing why she had worn it my heart just melted. It was at this time we came to know she had a brain tumor diagnosed at an advanced stage.

According to the researchers of mayoclinic.org, Radiation Oncology is the practice of regulating high dosages of radiation to kill cancerous cells. In this job several small tasks accumulate into a complex system. A radiation oncologist can expect to: place radioactive material into the body to locate and pinpoint tumors, keep detailed records of treatment proficiency, examine and create machinery to diminish harmful exposure to radiation, and to console other oncologists about methods such as chemotherapy and stem-cell treatment. As a young child, I decided to delve into the study of cancer based on watching my mother battle the disease (mayoclinic.org).

Radiology represents a large branch of medicine that deals with radiant energy in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. Within this field there are multiple modalities that all incorporate some level of radiation. For example, in radiation therapy, targeted energy is used eliminate cancer cells, shrink tumors, and ease the pain or discomfort of cancer related symptoms. The purpose of this paper will primarily be focusing on radiation therapy.

In 2007, it is predicted that almost 1.5 million people will be diagnosed with cancer in the United States (Pickle et al., 2007). More than half of these cancer patients will undergo the use of radiation as a means for treating cancer at some point during the course of their disease (Perez and Brady, 1998). Cancer, a disease caused by an uncontrollable growth of abnormal cells, affects millions of people around the world. Radiotherapy is one of the well known various methods used to treat cancer, where high powered rays are aimed directly at the tumor from the outside of the body as external radiation or an instrument is surgically placed inside the body producing a result of internal radiation. Radiation is delivered to the cancerous regions of the body to damage and destroy the cells in that area, terminating the rapid growth and division of the cells. Radiation therapy has been used by medicine as a treatment for cancer from the beginning of the twentieth century, with its earliest beginnings coming from the discovery of x-rays in 1895 by Wilhelm Röntgen. With the advancements in physics and computer programming, radiation had greatly evolved towards the end of the twentieth century and made the radiation treatment more effective. Radiation therapy is a curative treatment approach for cancer because it is successful in killing cancerous tumor cells and stop them from regenerating.

|the industry and its challenges it is important to understand its various phases of growth so far. |