Doctors have carried out the first treatment using RapidArc radiotherapy technology from Varian Medical Systems. A 74-year- old patient with localized prostate cancer became the first patient to receive treatment in south-east Asia. Clinicians at the Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital (PYNEH) in Hong Kong performed the first treatment, which took just two to three minutes to deliver, much faster than conventional IMRT (intensity modulated radiotherapy) treatments. RapidArc is designed to deliver a precise and efficient treatment in a single or multiple arcs of the treatment machine around the patient. It was introduced by Varian early last year. Since its launch, more than 70 hospitals throughout the world have commenced clinical treatments and PYNEH is the first in the South-East Asia region, just as it was the first to introduce image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) to Hong Kong in 2006. Doctors at PYNEH treat patients using three Varian linear accelerators including a Clinac 23Ex accelerator equipped with RapidArc radiotherapy technology.