Linac
Congratulations to Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center at TGMC, who opened its doors to the community on Wednesday, October 12 – expanding the Center’s comprehensive services in the Bayou Region.
Photo courtesy of Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center at TGMC
In 2008, Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center, Terrebonne General Medical Center and Cancer Care Specialists formed a partnership with one goal in mind – to offer residents of the Bayou Region a comprehensive cancer center, close to home. Since, Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center at TGMC has grown and evolved to meet the needs of the community, but its mission has remained the same: to improve survivorship and lessen the burden of cancer.
“With the new Center, we hope to provide not only the very best in cancer treatment, but to also demonstrate our commitment to creating a healthier community,” said Phyllis Peoples, president and CEO of TGMC. “With this facility comes a full service program with support for both the patient and family, education and screening initiatives at no cost to the underserved community as well as the latest in technology and expertise of the very best doctors in the region.”
New lobby entryway
Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center at TGMC offers world-class diagnostic and treatment technology, including Elekta Infinity linear accelerator.
“With this new building and the modern technology inside it, we are in a better position to serve our patients and the Bayou Region,” said Todd Stevens, president and CEO of Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center. “The patient experience will be enhanced through the convenience of this new facility and enriched by the genuine compassion and sincere concern shown by our dedicated staff.”
Learn more about Elekta Infinity at www.elekta.com/infinity. To read more about Mary Bird Perkins at TGMC’s new facility, visit: http://www.marybird.org/find-a-center/houma.
Leiden University Medical Center retires SL25 linear accelerator after 24 years and continues long Elekta tradition with new treatment system acquisitions
Recently, Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) removed the final components of its first SL25 series Elekta cancer therapy machine, a system that began treating patients at LUMC in 1987. The SL25 digital linear accelerator had reliably delivered over 160,000 therapy treatments to more than 10,000 patients.
“I would compare our first treatment system, the SL25, to your first mobile phone,” says C.A.M. Marijnen, M.D., chair of LUMC’s radiation oncology department since 2009. “To you, it was perfect, easy to use and it did what you needed it to do. But obviously it can’t do all the things smartphones do now. While the SL25 was our most resilient system, after 24 years it was time to take advantage of newer radiation treatment technology.”
The SL25, a Philips product until Elekta acquired the company’s radiation oncology business in 1997, had exceeded its normal lifespan of 10 to 15 years through its exceptional design and the care and attention that LUMC’s physicist Henk de Vroome and engineer Ruud Kuit – both recently retired – had given the system over the decades.
“Except for mandatory modifications, we did all the maintenance on the SL25 ourselves over the last few years too,” de Vroome says. “The system’s longevity also can be attributed to the resilience of expensive components, such as the drum and waveguide. The components of the control system have shorter life cycles, so we replaced those once in a while. It’s like servicing an aircraft, where you do an occasional overhaul.”
For all other Elekta treatment machines, LUMC has maintained a full Elekta collaboration service contract for many years, with Elekta and LUMC engineers working closely together to achieve the highest systems’ performance, uptime and availability.
LUMC staff and Elekta Netherlands representatives gathered in August at the medical center for a celebration to honor de Vroome and Kuit for their years of work with the SL25, and to begin the system’s disassembly.
Read more at: http://www.elekta.com/healthcare_international_press_release_20071312.php.
International actress and cancer survivor Lisa Ray on Wednesday said she will ‘conquer’ the disease in her lifetime. Lisa recently inaugurated a cancer institute at Fortis Hospitals Ltd’s Mulund facility.
Malvinder M Singh and Lisa Ray
“Courage, fortitude and the right attitude towards life can overcome all odds. In any adverse situation people tend to give up but in my life and my fight against cancer I have learnt that by facing the challenge head on, hope can break through and win. It takes a lot of resilience to face such a situation in life but I believe nothing is impossible if we have the attitude to fight for it,” Lisa told reporters.
“I am happy to associate with Fortis Cancer Institute which has the best clinical talent and infrastructure to give patient the right care. I am also glad to associate with the group to extend my support for spreading awareness around cancer cure in our country. My motto is ‘never stop fighting’ and we will conquer cancer in our lifetime,” she added.
The Fortis Cancer Institute offers comprehensive customised, cancer treatment with dedicated consultants across Medical, Surgical and Radiation Oncology backed by the latest in Cancer Technology.
Malvinder M Singh, Group Chairman, Fortis Healthcare Group, said, “We are bringing renewed hope to cancer patients in Mumbai by providing diagnosis and treatment expertise with a human touch. Our Cancer Institute in Mumbai will expand the spectrum of our super specialty and provide unparalleled care to cancer patients with an integrated approach.”
“At Fortis Cancer Institute we will ensure that each patient receives compassionate care through the expertise of a responsive and experienced team of healthcare professionals. We are the first hospital in India to acquire the most sophisticated radiation therapy equipment -Elekta Synergy Linac with Volumetric Modulated ARC Therapy (VMAT) which can treat tumors and small lesions in the brain and other parts of the body quickly with precision.
Elekta Synergy Gallery
“VMAT technology helps target the treatment area more accurately and reduces treatment time by 35- 40%. This combines with sophisticated Oncentra Treatment Planning System which reduces the treatment planning substantially hence giving a faster turnaround time to patient and benefiting the patient in quick and customized treatment. We are the first ones to invest in this technology in the country,” said Vishal Bali, CEO Fortis Hospitals Ltd.Visit Elekta India – http://www.elektaindia.co.in
To read more visit – http://indianweekender.co.nz/Pages/ArticleDetails/16/1471/Bollywood/Will-conquer-cancer-Lisa-Ray
Dr. Patrick Cobb stood in amazement as hundreds of patients, friends and supporters flowed through the front doors
Elekta Synergy of the Frontier Cancer Center and Blood Institute Sunday afternoon.
Each who passed by were welcomed with a hug or handshake before roaming around the new $23 million cancer center where Cobb is a managing partner.
Crowds wandered through the radiology waiting room, passed the phlebotomy area and through various exam rooms.
The tour continued upstairs to the chemotherapy area and the outside deck area.
Formerly known as the Hematology Oncology Center of the Northern Rockies, which was located on North 30th Street, the new center has been three years in the making.
read more here – http://billingsgazette.com/news/local/article_d34298d2-b3f8-11df-b128-001cc4c002e0.html
The Frontier Cancer Center is equipped with MOSAIQ™ – Elekta’s Medical and Radiation Oncology Software and an Elekta Synergy Linac
Elekta VMAT (Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy) is Elekta’s next generation arc therapy technique that establishes new standards for radiation therapy treatment speed and dose reduction to the patient. With Elekta VMAT, single or multiple radiation beams sweep in uninterrupted arc(s) around the patient, dramatically speeding treatment delivery. Doctors can use Elekta VMAT with complete or partial arc(s) to reduce treatment times from the eight to twelve minutes required for “conventional” radiation therapy to as few as two minutes.
read more at http://www.elekta.com/VMAT
iViewC, Elekta’s new digital imaging system for use with Compact (our cost-effective linear accelerator for radiation therapy) has achieved CE marking. Utilizing CCD (charge couple device) technology, iViewC affords high quality, real-time images that verify the patient is in the correct position at the time of treatment. This helps to ensure patient safety and reduces margins during therapy delivery.
The digital architecture of iViewC ensures rapid patient set up and positioning, faster patient throughput and valuable workflow efficiencies compared to X-ray film, such as digital image storage and no waiting time between image acquisition and analysis. Based on the world-renowned iViewGT™ image evaluation software, iViewC harnesses advanced CCD camera technology to provide high quality, real-time images for accurate patient position verification at a cost-effective price.
The first iViewC for Elekta Compact was shipped to the Jose R. Reyes Memorial Medical Center in the Philippines. “The cost effective image-guidance capabilities offered by iViewC will enable workflow efficiency, higher patient throughput and cost savings,” says Erwin Q. Vito Cruz, Chairman, Department of Radiation Therapy, Jose R. Reyes Memorial Medical Center. “This is ideal for high-workload government institutions such as ours.”
*iViewC™ and Elekta Compact™ are not available for sale or distribution in all regions.
iViewC Patient Position Verification Solution Designed to Optimize Treatment Accuracy for Elekta Compact Radiation Therapy System
BEND, OR — St. Charles Cancer Care recently made another leap forward in the care of cancer patients in the region. With the arrival of the new, state-of-the-art linear accelerator, a machine that uses radiation to treat tumors in cancer patients, the cancer center will continue to provide high quality treatment and care.
“We are excited to have this piece of equipment that offers cutting-edge technology,” said Peggy Carey, St. Charles Cancer Center director. “We have been waiting for the development of this linear accelerator for several years. This piece of equipment marks the cancer center’s next step in advancing ways to better serve our patients as this piece of equipment will allow us to deliver targeted, extremely precise radiation therapy to cancer patients with complex tumors, large and small.”
Linyee Chang, medical director for radiation oncology at the St. Charles Cancer Center, says the new piece of equipment provides much improved images of tumors that will enable physicians to provide precise care to cancer patients.
“The ability to see the tumor in real-time and in three dimensions, will allow us to safely and accurately guide the delivery of radiation to our patients,” Chang said. “This technology expands the repertoire of therapies that we will be able to provide for our patients.”
The new Elekta Infinity linear accelerator will be located on the St. Charles Bend campus in the Cancer Center. The system is the first of its kind to utilize three-dimensional images, by using a pretreatment CT scan to locate and guide treatment. This approach results in targeted, even more precise treatment to the tumor while sparing surrounding tissues.
An expert team of will work diligently over the next six weeks to install and commission the machine. The St. Charles Cancer Center expects to begin treating a patients with the new linear accelerator in late July.
read the entire article here: http://www.mycentraloregon.com/news/local/1209191/New-Technology-Installed-At-St-Charles-Cancer-Center.html
Read More about Elekta Infinity - Comprehensive image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) system with VMAT
Elekta Infinity - Comprehensive image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) system with VMAT
For the first time ever, patients at The Christie are benefitting from a revolutionary radiotherapy treatment which dramatically cuts treatment time, whilst better targeting the tumour. Christie senior radiographer Julia Stratford, patient Jim Eastwood and physicist Carl Rowebottom
Doctors at Manchester’s famous cancer hospital are using a pioneering rotating machine to deliver stronger radiowaves directly into the tumour.
Previously treatment took up to 15 minutes as the machine stops and repositions itself – the new machine can be programmed to deliver the treatment in one go.
Because the new machine is so much quicker it means more people can be treated each day.
It is currently being used for prostate cancer patients but doctors hope to roll it out to other types of cancer soon.
Dr Carl Rowbottom from The Christie, said; “We’re starting this state-of-the-art treatment first of all to patients with prostate cancer and feedback has been fantastic.“This new technique is much better for patients, it’s quicker, they’re more comfortable as they don’t have to keep still for long periods of time so it reduces stress all round and they’re treated in next to no time at all.
Effective
“It also means we’re able to see more patients a day. It’s much more effective at targeting the specific site of the tumour whilst sparing adjacent healthy tissues of radiation.”
“We hope to expand the technology in the future so we can offer it to patients with other forms of cancer. Our new radiotherapy centres, currently under construction in Oldham and Salford, will also be capable of treating prostate cancer patients in this way.”
Patients needing radiotherapy have to have the treatment every day – sometimes up to five weeks or longer and The Christie runs one of the largest radiotherapy departments in the world, treating more than 400 patients a day.
The Elekta technology is delivered by a £1.3m rotating machine called a linear accelerator which sends X-rays through the tumour.
Doctors hope to use this new radiotherapy on head, neck and lung cancers next.
Jim Eastwood, 65, from Whitworth, north of Rochdale, is one of the first patients to benefit from this technique after being diagnosed with prostate cancer in May.
The former production worker said: “When I found out I had prostate cancer I was really upset, I’ve been married to my wife Elaine for 44 years and have two kids and two grandkids, I’ve got everything to live for.
Procedure
“I was told I could have surgery or be treated with this new procedure. As I’d just had an operation, I didn’t want to undergo anything invasive again, so it seemed perfect for me.
“Having to have any sort of treatment is never pleasant, but this is over before you know it and there are hardly any side effects. I’m in extremely capable hands and feeling positive about the future.”
Read the entire article here: http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/health/s/1184350_christie_patients_get_revolutionary_treatment
- Largest Neurosurgical Center in Russia Acquires Elekta’s Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion February 6, 2012Russia’s first Leksell Gamma Knife® Perfexion™ system has found a home at the renowned N.N. Burdenko Neurosurgical Institute, just a five-minute car ride from Moscow’s Red Square. On June 2, 2011, a 59-year-old woman was the first Perfexion patient, receiving Gamma Knife® radiosurgery to treat tumor tissue that remained following open surgery. Now, eight mon […]
- Largest Neurosurgical Center in Russia Acquires Elekta’s Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion February 6, 2012N.N. Burdenko Neurosurgical Institute improves treatment of patients with multiple metastasesRead more... […]
- SRT January 31, 2012Würzburg10-11 December - 2012 […]
- Mosaiq® - Electronic Medical Records January 31, 2012Mannheim26-27 November - 2012 […]
- IMRT / VMAT January 31, 2012Mannheim22-23 November - 2012 […]
- IGRT January 31, 2012Amsterdam16-17 November - 2012 […]
- SBRT January 31, 2012Wake Forest, North Carolina18-19 October - 2012 […]
- IGRT January 31, 2012Amsterdam29-30 June - 2012 […]
- IMRT / VMAT January 31, 2012Mannheim21-22 June - 2012 […]
- Mosaiq® - Electronic Medical Records January 31, 2012Mannheim18-19 June - 2012 […]