Varian, a Siemens Healthineers company (Varian), has announced a five-year research and professional services agreement with Australia-based Icon Group (Icon). Through this agreement, Icon will participate in clinical and technical research programs, product evaluation projects, and clinical consultations with Varian to offer Icon's clinical expertise and industry perspectives throughout product development.

Building on the agreement between the two companies in April 2021 to install Varian linear accelerators across Australia and Asia, Varian and Icon will conduct clinical and technical research evaluating the hardware and software systems involved in diagnostics, treatment planning, and radiation therapy for cancer patients. The companies' research will also be published and used to advance broader industry-wide education efforts, including training programs to support healthcare providers using radiation therapy.

The first project between the two organizations will focus on the use of Artificial Intelligence in contouring to reduce the time it takes to plan radiation therapy treatment. Contouring involves outlining the tumor and nearby organs to deliver precise radiation therapy to the tumor site and avoid healthy tissue. AI contouring enables high quality Organs at Risk (OAR) contouring and standardization with AI-powered algorithms. This is designed to help simplify the radiotherapy planning workflow and potentially allow healthcare providers to spend time on other tasks.

This project will be one of many throughout the five-year partnership through which both companies will conduct cutting edge research to advance the future of radiation oncology and reduce the global cancer burden.