July, 28, 2014—Englewood Hospital and Medical Center (EHMC) celebrated the opening of its new Radiation Oncology Department with a special ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday, July 23, and unveiled its new cutting-edge Varian TrueBeamTM 2.0 radiotherapy system. The opening of the new Radiation Oncology center marks the completion of Phase 1 of a multi-phase modernization project that includes the opening of a comprehensive Cancer Treatment and Wellness Center.
TrueBeam’s state-of-the-art technology allows for safer and more efficient radiation therapy, offering seamless integration of treatment, image and motion management therapy. The new technology provides more precise treatments in less time, while providing a more comfortable experience for patients. TrueBeam technology treats the affected area of the body with increased accuracy and precision, targeting cancer cells while minimizing damage to surrounding normal tissue.
“We are committed to giving our patients access to state-of-the-art cancer care,” said David Dubin, MD, EHMC Chief of the Department of Radiation Oncology. “TrueBeam gives us the tools that we need to treat more complex cancer cases, unlocks treatment options for patients who otherwise may not be candidates for traditional radiotherapy, and offers unique benefits to patients with lung, head and neck, breast, and prostate cancer.”
The advanced system delivers many forms of treatment, including image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT), image-guided radiosurgery (IGRS), intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), Rapid Arc radiotherapy, and gated Rapid Arc. The system’s integration of treatment, image and motion management allows for superior quality assurance, precision and patient comfort. Integrated motion management hardware and software accounts for even slight shifts of a patient’s movements, allowing doctors to monitor the tumor’s movement at all times. This helps ensure patients do not receive too high or too low a dose of radiation. The system is equipped with a robotic table that uses ‘six degrees of freedom,’ accounting for movement in front-back, left-right, and head-foot directions, and now yaw, pitch and roll as well.
EHMC is treating its first patient with the new radiotherapy technology today, Monday, July 28. To enhance the patient experience, EHMC’s new Radiation Oncology Department provides extended hours (8:00am – 6:00pm) and amenities such as a dedicated entrance and valet parking.