Northern Centre for Cancer Care upgrades radiotherapy services
27 October 2009
The Northern Centre for Cancer Care based at the Freeman
Hospital in Newcastle upon Tyne, is upgrading its five Siemens Oncor
linear accelerators.
Each Oncor is being upgraded to 160 multileaf collimator (MLC)
capabilities to improve conformal shaping of radiotherapy treatment
beams and IMRT (Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy) delivery. This
will ensure a higher level of precision during treatment.
The centre has also recently installed a Siemens Magnetom Espree MRI.
This is the first Siemens MRI in the UK dedicated to radiotherapy
treatment planning. The Espree combines revolutionary performance,
increased patient satisfaction and a broad array of applications. The
1.5 Tesla system also features a 70cm internal bore and short 125cm
system length. This means patients have 30cm of headroom during scans to
ease feelings of claustrophobia.
“The upgraded ONCOR systems will enable us to improve conformal
therapy plus offer more IMRT,” said Gill Lawrence, Head of Radiotherapy
Physics at the Northern Centre for Cancer Care. “When the upgrades have
been established, we will be able to provide IMRT to our prostate cancer
patients and this will be a far quicker process with 160MLC
capabilities.
"With the addition of the Espree MRI, we will be able to complement
the treatment planning imaging systems already in place – the wide bore
was a key factor in the decision to opt for the Siemens equipment as it
offers a better patient experience.”
“The Northern Centre for Cancer Care has some of the latest equipment
available for treating cancer and we’re delighted to be able to supply
the first Siemens MRI in the UK dedicated to radiotherapy treatment
planning,” said Neil Lincoln, Regional Sales Manager at Siemens
Healthcare.
“Combined with high specification upgrades on five of our linear
accelerators, the centre will be able to offer the best quality care and
treatment planning for patients.”