Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Throughout 2015 and into 2017 the Department or Radiation Oncology will continue replacing their existing Siemens Oncor linear accelerators with Elekta Versa HD linear accelerators. The first machine was operational in February this year, with the second completed and due to be commissioned for treatment in September, 2015. Installation of the machines required the vaults to be modified to accept the chassis of the device whose working parts are mostly recessed behind a wall, with the treatment head and imaging array visible to the patient and treatment team. An advancement that the Elekta machine provides is the ability to perform VMAT or Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy, where the machine is able to reshape the beam as it moves in the treatment arc around the patient. Faster treatment times mean that patient motion is minimized and healthy tissue spared. All four of the new machines will be in use in the department in early 2017.