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Engineering a Scalable, Cloud-Ready Future for Accuray’s Cancer Treatment Solutions

At a glance

  • Client
Accuray
  • Industry
Healthcare & Life Sciences
  • Solution Provided
Cloud Engineering, Delivery Transformation, Digital Product Development
  • Technologies Used
Agile, Angular 17, .Net8, Interops to integrate algorithms built on C++, modernized Perforce to Github Cloud, Docker containers, Nexus Binary Repository to store Angular components
The Challenge

Accuray, a global leader in radiation oncology therapy systems, faced a massive undertaking: modernizing their legacy- and desktop-based applications to improve the customer experience for its critical product lines used by cancer treatment specialists. With a business model that mixes on-premises physical machines at medical facilities with their proprietary software platform, Accuray’s legacy applications required engineers to visit all machine locations to manually make software updates as needed. As Accuray continued to grow, the process became unscalable and inefficient for both the company and its customer base.
Additionally, Accuray needed to protect patient information by ensuring their new software development processes complied with strict healthcare regulations, including HIPAA and FDA requirements. Finally, their platform needed a comprehensive upgrade from Windows-based systems to Linux, along with a transition from desktop applications to a SaaS- and cloud-based model to create more flexibility and ease of use for their customers.

The Solution

Accuray brought in Gorilla Logic to help them achieve their goal of offering medical providers more detailed data and insights into patient scans. Gorilla Logic teams helped them migrate to the cloud, modernize legacy applications, and create a new design system to improve the user interface and customer experience.
By implementing the following solutions, Gorilla Logic’s consultants were able to successfully overhaul Accuray’s entire product development lifecycle and transform it into an Agile, efficient, and scalable process, while improving the UX/UI interface:

  • Agile Transformation & DevOps Modernization:
    • Transitioned Accuray from a waterfall to an Agile development model, introducing Agile practices and providing coaching to facilitate this change
    • Modernized DevOps platforms by adding essential infrastructure, automation, and QA integration to improve scalability and efficiency
  • Cloud Deployment & Containers:
    • Deployed systems to the cloud while ensuring compliance with HIPAA and other healthcare regulations
    • Implemented Docker Containers to host the application, along with a Nexus Binary Repository to store Angular components, facilitating cloud and on-premises integration
    • Introduced Linux-based infrastructure, containers, and microservices to enhance scalability and streamline development processes
  • Legacy System Modernization:
    • Migrated legacy code from outdated C++ to a hybrid mix of modern C++ and .Net 8 services to ensure flexibility and compatibility
    • Built web-based microservices to support both on-premises and cloud deployments, offering enhanced system flexibility
    • Created an interops solution to integrate proprietary algorithms and serializations built on C++
    • Upgraded version control infrastructure from Perforce to GitHub Cloud, enabling better collaboration and streamlined processes
  • New Product Capabilities:
    • Developed new digital image rendering capabilities for medical applications, which enhanced product functionality
    • Enabled SaaS capabilities by modernizing the desktop application into a SaaS-ready web application using Angular 17 for the front end
    • Created a Design System to standardize component development across teams and products, improving efficiency and consistency

The Results

The Results

The variety of technical solutions implemented by Gorilla Logic have successfully enhanced Accuray’s product features. Accuray can now offer more detailed data and insights into patient scans, giving medical providers a deeper understanding of each patient’s condition—and potentially leading to more effective treatment plans.
The significant UI improvements greatly enhanced the usability for doctors and technicians. Enhanced navigation, data display, icons, visual cues, on-screen data lists, refined menus, and other improvements have made the app more intuitive and user-friendly, vastly improving the overall customer experience. Other significant improvements for Accuray included:

  • Enhanced QA Processes and Compliance: 
    • Added improvements to Accuray’s QA pipeline, establishing processes and testing frameworks that extend beyond feature testing to address high-level QA needs.
    • The QA improvements contributed to better regulatory compliance and ensured a healthier, more reliable product release cycle.
  • Scalable & Efficient Development:
    • Adoption of Agile practices and modernized DevOps platforms resulted in a ~50% reduction in the software delivery timeline, accelerating the development lifecycle from weeks to days
    • Automation initiatives reduced manual effort and streamlined the delivery pipeline, enabling faster time-to-market
    • Standardizing component development through the Design System enhanced cross-product consistency, reducing development complexity and increasing sustainability
  • Cloud-Ready Systems:
    • Transitioning to a SaaS model with cloud deployment capabilities allowed for scalability and seamless integration across systems
    • Containers and microservices facilitated easier system management and reduced complexity
  • Enhanced Product Features:
    • New digital image rendering and SaaS model significantly improved product effectiveness and user experience
  • Maintenance & Modernization of Legacy Applications:
    • Provided ongoing support and modernization for critical legacy applications that Accuray relies on for internal operations, enhancing security, stability, and user experience.
  • Regulatory Compliance:
    • Successfully maintained compliance with HIPAA, FDA, and other healthcare standards during cloud migration and modernization, ensuring product safety and reliability