OREANDA-NEWS. Hitachi, Ltd. announced that Johns Hopkins Medicine has selected Hitachi to provide its proton beam therapy (PBT) system at Sibley Memorial Hospital located in Washington, D.C. This collaboration, which includes a 10-year maintenance service, marks the first multi-room PBT application in the nation's capital. This will be Hitachi's fifth PBT system in North America.

The next-generation system "PROBEAT", which comes with IMPT (Intensity Modulated Proton Therapy) and cone-beam CT, will have improved spot scanning capability in all 3 gantry-type treatment rooms, along with a fixed irradiation room dedicated to cancer research.

In December 2007, Hitachi was the first company in the U.S. to clear FDA Premarket Notification Special 510(k) for the "PROBEAT" system with its spot scanning irradiation technology. Hitachi has delivered the first hospital based spot scanning system in May 2008 and has treated over 1,500 patients to date.

The same spot scanning system has already been installed at Nagoya Proton Therapy Center and Hokkaido University in Japan. In fiscal year 2015 (ending March 2016), one of Hitachi's new PBT site is planning to start treatment of patients. Hitachi has shown great stability in the proton market through continued investment in research and development, track record for high clinical availability of over 98%, along with a commitment to a long term partnership with all of its clients.

Given the growing demand for technical and clinical advancements in the treatment of cancer, interest in proton therapy is on the rise, with more and more hospitals and cancer treatment facilities venturing into this area. Hitachi will continue to globally expand the healthcare business where proton therapy is its flagship solution, and contribute to cancer treatment around the world.