Varian Medical Systems is an American radiation

oncology Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis, and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's Etymology, etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγ ...

treatments and software maker based in

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

. Their medical devices include

linear accelerators A linear particle accelerator (often shortened to linac) is a type of particle accelerator that accelerates charged subatomic particles or ions to a high speed by subjecting them to a series of oscillating electric potentials along a linear beam ...

(LINACs) and software for treating cancer and other medical conditions with

radiotherapy Radiation therapy or radiotherapy (RT, RTx, or XRT) is a treatment using ionizing radiation, generally provided as part of cancer therapy to either kill or control the growth of malignant cells. It is normally delivered by a linear particle ...

radiosurgery Radiosurgery is surgery using radiation, that is, the destruction of precisely selected areas of tissue using ionizing radiation rather than excision with a blade. Like other forms of radiation therapy (also called radiotherapy), it is usually us ...

proton therapy In medicine, proton therapy, or proton radiotherapy, is a type of particle therapy that uses a beam of protons to irradiate diseased tissue, most often to treat cancer. The chief advantage of proton therapy over other types of external beam ...

, and

brachytherapy Brachytherapy is a form of radiation therapy where a sealed radiation, radiation source is placed inside or next to the area requiring treatment. The word "brachytherapy" comes from the Ancient Greek, Greek word , meaning "short-distance" or "s ...

. The company supplies software for managing cancer clinics, radiotherapy centers, and medical oncology practices. Varian Medical Systems employs more than 7,100 people at manufacturing sites in North America, Europe, and China and approximately 70 sites globally. In August 2020,

Siemens Healthineers Siemens Healthineers is a German multinational company with specializing in medical technology. It was spun off from its parent company Siemens in 2017, which retains a 75% stake. Siemens Healthineers is the parent company for several medical te ...

announced plans to acquire Varian for $16.4 billion. The deal was completed in April 2021. After the merger Varian continues to operate independently; it retained its headquarters and employees.

History

Varian was founded in 1948 as

Varian Associates Varian Associates was one of the first high-tech companies in Silicon Valley. It was founded in 1948 by Russell H. and Sigurd F. Varian, William Webster Hansen, and Edward Ginzton to sell the klystron, the first vacuum tube which could amp ...

by Russell H. Varian, Sigurd F. Varian, William Webster Hansen, and Edward Ginzton to sell the

Klystron A klystron is a specialized linear-beam vacuum tube, invented in 1937 by American electrical engineers Russell and Sigurd Varian,Pond, Norman H. "The Tube Guys". Russ Cochran, 2008 p.31-40 which is used as an amplifier for high radio frequenci ...

, the first tube which could generate electromagnetic waves at microwave frequencies, and other electromagnetic equipment. By 1999, Varian Associates had branched into

semiconductor A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity between that of a conductor and an insulator. Its conductivity can be modified by adding impurities (" doping") to its crystal structure. When two regions with different doping level ...

vacuum tube A vacuum tube, electron tube, thermionic valve (British usage), or tube (North America) is a device that controls electric current flow in a high vacuum between electrodes to which an electric voltage, potential difference has been applied. It ...

, and medical device fields. On April 2, 1999, these divisions split to become

Varian Semiconductor Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, Inc. was a supplier of ion implantation equipment used in the fabrication of semiconductor chips. Varian Semiconductor was founded in 1971 as Extrion Corporation in Peabody, Massachusetts. Extrion later ...

, Varian, Inc., and Varian Medical Systems. In August 2020,

announced plans to acquire Varian Medical Systems in an all-stock deal valued at $16.4 billion. The deal was approved and completed on 15 April 2021.

Acquired companies

Before its acquisition by Siemens Healthineers, Varian Medical Systems had acquired other companies, including Pan-Pacific Enterprises, ACCEL Instruments, Bio-Imaging Research, Inc. Sigma Micro Informatique Conseil, Argus Software, Dosetek Oy, Velocity Medical Solutions. and MeVis Medical Solutions AG. In January 2018, the company announced the acquisition of Sirtex Medical for $1.3 billion. In 2019, the company acquired CyberHeart, a privately held company with intellectual property (IP) that covers the use of radiation in the heart (cardiac radioablation) and other forms of radiosurgery for cardiovascular disease.

Spin-off companies

On January 30, 2017, a spin-off of Varex Imaging Corporation (manufacturing of X-ray imaging products) from Varian Medical Systems had been successfully completed.

Products

Linear accelerators

Varian manufactures a range of

megavoltage Megavoltage X-rays are produced by linear accelerators ("linacs") operating at voltages in excess of 1000 kV (1 MV) range, and therefore have an energy in the MeV range. The voltage in this case refers to the voltage used to accelera ...

LINACs A linear particle accelerator (often shortened to linac) is a type of particle accelerator that accelerates charged subatomic particles or ions to a high speed by subjecting them to a series of oscillating electric potentials along a linear beam ...

with varying levels of features and complexity, for example different numbers of

multileaf collimator A multileaf collimator (MLC) is a collimator or beam-limiting device that is made of individual "leaves" of a high atomic numbered material, usually tungsten, that can move independently in and out of the path of a radiotherapy beam in order to ...

s or the ability to perform

. TrueBeam is a

system. The EDGE

suite was launched in 2012. The first cancer centers to use the new system were the Champalimaud Foundation in

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

, and

Henry Ford Health System Henry Ford Health is an integrated, not-for-profit health care organization in the U.S. state of Michigan. Headquartered in Detroit, Henry Ford Health is the second-largest health system in Michigan, operating 13 hospitals across the Detroit, Ge ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

Halcyon

In 2017, Varian launched Halcyon. The system features unique dual-layer MLC that enables high modulation with low leakage for every field or arc. Halcyon is advertised to be intuitive, friendly and comfortable for clinical staff and patient alike. This is primarily done by automating several functions typically performed manually by radiographers, such as switching between treatment beams automatically. Additionally, Halcyon also features an automated machine performance check for daily LINAC quality assurance, which can speed up the checking of beam constancy and mechanical performance through the use of a phantom. However, while Halcyon does boast improved automation and workflow improvements which allow for faster patient treatment, these extra automation tasks can make occasionally make it more difficult for medical physicists to perform detailed Quality Assurance on LINAC performance. Nevertheless, automation in both quality assurance and clinical operation generally make the LINAC easier to operate by checkers and radiation therapists.

Proton Therapy

Varian manufactures the ProBeam Proton Therapy System, with current and planned installations at several sites globally. These are an all pencil-beam scanning proton therapy system utilizing IMPT (intensity modulated proton therapy), which was developed with

PSI Psi, PSI or Ψ may refer to: Alphabetic letters * Psi (Greek) (Ψ or ψ), the twenty-third letter of the Greek alphabet * Psi (Cyrillic), letter of the early Cyrillic alphabet, adopted from Greek Arts and entertainment * "Psi" as an abbreviat ...

of Switzerland. Varian also develops

medical software Medical software is any software item or system used within a medical context. This can include: * Standalone software used for Medical diagnosis, diagnostic or Therapy, therapeutic purposes. * Software used by health care providers to reduce pape ...

and

radiology information system A radiological information system (RIS) is the core system for the electronic management of medical imaging departments. The major functions of the RIS can include patient scheduling, resource management, examination performance tracking, reportin ...

for proton treatment planning system.

Ethos Therapy

On September 16, 2019, during the 2019 American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) annual meeting, being held Sept. 15–18 in Chicago, Varian announced Ethos therapy, an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven system designed to increase the capability, flexibility and efficiency of radiotherapy. This new system is designed to deliver an entire adaptive treatment in a typical 15-minute timeslot, from patient setup through treatment delivery.

Litigation

Defamation case law

In 1999, Varian Medical Systems, Inc. sued a former employee for

defamation Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...

after they posted numerous messages criticizing the company on the Internet. The lawsuit led to the ruling of '' Varian v. Delfino'' by the

California Supreme Court The Supreme Court of California is the highest and final court of appeals in the courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building, but it regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sac ...

on the question whether a trial could proceed while denial of the defendant's

anti-SLAPP Strategic lawsuits against public participation (also known as SLAPP suits or intimidation lawsuits), or strategic litigation against public participation, are lawsuits intended to censor, intimidate, and silence critics by burdening them with ...

motion was under appeal. After the state supreme court ruled that a new trial would be necessary because of that technical concern, the case was settled on undisclosed terms.

University of Pittsburgh

On April 25, 2012, a

US federal judge In the United States, a federal judge is a judge who serves on a court established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. Often called "Article III judges", federal judges include the chief justice and associate justices of the U.S. Sup ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

awarded attorney fees, costs, and doubled damages totaling $73.6 million to the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

after the university won a suit on medical patent infringement grounds against Varian.

References

External links

* {{authority control Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange Companies based in Palo Alto, California Health care companies based in California American companies established in 1948 Health care companies established in 1948 Medical technology companies of the United States Private providers of NHS services 2021 mergers and acquisitions Siemens American subsidiaries of foreign companies