Image-guided radiosurgery system for new Dublin hospital
7 February 2007 Dublin, Ireland. The newly opened Beacon Hospital in
Sandyford, Dublin has ordered Europe’s first Trilogy Tx image-guided
radiosurgery system from Varian Medical Systems. The system will be
installed in Beacon Cancer Centre, a partnership of Pittsburgh Medical
Center (UPMC) Cancer Centers and Triad Hospitals, Inc., located at Beacon
Hospital. The new system will be in clinical use later this year as part of
a comprehensive oncology program at Beacon Hospital that includes
state-of-the-art diagnostic imaging, day unit oncology and surgical
services. “The availability of stereotactic radiosurgery in Ireland will
provide cancer patients with a new state-of-the-art option to treat their
disease and enable patients who would have previously been referred overseas
to remain in Ireland,” says Prof. John Armstrong, medical director of
radiation oncology at the Beacon Cancer Centre.
“Brain metastases are rarely treated using radiosurgery in Ireland and
patients with other smaller benign tumours should be given the option of
radiosurgery more frequently,” adds Chris Mascott, head of clinical
neurosciences at Beacon Hospital. “Now we will be able to change that
situation. It puts us in the forefront of offering Irish cancer patients
advanced and contemporary treatments.” Image-guided radiosurgery (IGRS)
involves taking 3D X-ray images to locate and target tumours with precisely
focused, high-energy radiation beams. It is used increasingly as an
alternative to conventional surgery and it is often used to eradicate
malignant or benign tumours that are considered ‘inoperable’. Treatments can
be carried out in up to five sessions. It has recently been
well-publicised that the 4.2 million population of the Republic of Ireland
is greatly underserved in neurological and neurosurgical care. The Trilogy
Tx is flexible enough to carry out all other forms of radiotherapy,
including advanced intensity modulated radiation (IMRT) and image-guided
radiation therapy (IGRT) in any part of the body. In addition to its
application to cancer patients, Dr. Mascott said he is particularly looking
forward to offering his patients image-guided radiosurgery to treat
trigeminal neuralgia, vascular malformations and hypothalamic hamartomas
presenting with epilepsy. “There are also new and exciting indications that
will be worth pursuing,” he said. “The Trilogy will enable us to maximise
accuracy and effectiveness for these kinds of neurological treatments.”
Beacon Hospital, an independent centre, opened to patients in November 2006.
It is operated by Triad Hospitals, Inc., one of the largest hospital
operators in the US and it has an academic affiliation with Johns Hopkins
Medicine International. Beacon Cancer Centre, scheduled to open later this
year, is part of the UPMC Cancer Centers network, one of the largest
clinical cancer networks in the US. To top
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