'Images courtesy of OCA Hospital, Monterrey, Mexico'

A 64-year-old female patient with mediastinal metastasis recently became the first in Latin America to receive Elekta VMAT radiotherapy treatment enhanced with Monaco® planning software. The patient completed her five Elekta VMAT treatment sessions at OCA Hospital, each of which lasted less than five minutes. The largest private medical center in Mexico, OCA Hospital is the fifth center in the world to utilize the combined radiation therapy planning and delivery solution.

“The speed of Elekta VMAT is reinforced with sophisticated Monaco planning, which helps us effectively plan around targets and organs-at-risk,” says Genaro Levinson, president and CEO of OCA Hospital. “Also, the Monte Carlo dose algorithm enhances the predictability of the dose, so we can confidently deliver the highest therapeutic dose.”

In addition to its Elekta VMAT/Monaco first, OCA Hospital was the first medical center in Latin America to install Elekta Synergy®, a treatment system equipped with advanced imaging technology to visualize the tumor and critical structures with the patient in the treatment position at the time of treatment.

'Images courtesy of OCA Hospital, Monterrey, Mexico'

“OCA leadership and senior management determined to upgrade our oncology department with state-of-the-art technology, including how we could improve Elekta Synergy,” Levinson says. “We wanted to be one step ahead of Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy [IMRT]with static segments, which we had been doing successfully for years. We envisioned VMAT as an excellent alternative for dynamic IMRT using rapid volumetric arcs.”

Read more at: http://www.elekta.com/healthcare_international_press_release_20071055.php.