Imagine a machine that helps doctors plan radiation treatments for cancer patients with greater precision than ever before, while dramatically reducing the exam time. Imagine equipment so sophisticated that it fashions a radiation beam to match the shape of a cancerous tumor. This means higher doses of radiation can be delivered directly to cancer cells while the surrounding normal tissue is protected.
Such high-tech wonders aren't merely a cancer patient's dream for the future. They are a reality at GW Hospital's Radiation Oncology Center. The Center is home to some of the most advanced radiation therapy equipment available.
Greater precision means better results.
One of the highlights of the Center is a computed tomography (CT) scanner. This advanced system has many advantages over conventional CT scanning.
Imaging with the CT scanner is more accurate, especially in planning treatment for breast cancer, because patients can be situated in the same position they assume when receiving radiation therapy. A larger opening in the CT scanner makes this possible. As a result, doctors can better plan how to deliver radiation therapy more effectively.
The scanner also makes imaging more comfortable and convenient for patients. The exam time is reduced from one or more hours to 15 minutes.
The scanner provides big benefits to patients. It enables the center to simulate radiation therapy with greater precision — which translates into better treatment results.
The radiation oncologists also will be able to see all of their patients' images through the hospital's picture archiving and communication system (PACS).
The linear accelerator is another important feature of the Radiation Oncology Center. This computerized machine delivers Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) — large doses of radiation that are targeted to cancerous tumors. The delivery of radiation is much more precise than is possible with conventional radiation therapy.
With IMRT, doctors can deliver higher doses of radiation directly to tumors and cancer cells, while decreasing potentially harmful doses to surrounding healthy tissue. This lowers patients' risks of complications and side effects. And because the linear accelerator conforms the radiation beam to the shape of the tumor, doctors can treat tumors that previously may have been considered untreatable because they were so close to other vital organs.
This innovative technology offers new hope to some cancer patients who may have had more limited treatment options in the past.
Print Page
