The hospital selected Varian to replace its entire treatment machine and software infrastructure because the equipment was unable to carry out advanced image-guided treatments. We are delighted with the rapidity of implementation, says Poul Geertsen, head of radiotherapy at Herlev Hospital. The transition from our previous equipment to an overall Varian solution has been smooth and has enabled us to be among the first hospitals in Europe to offer RapidArc treatments.
All our treatment personnel were pleased with the speed and ease of the first treatment and the patient responded well, adds Brian Holch Kristensen, chief physicist. We have RapidArc capability on six of our eight linear accelerators and we hope to soon routinely carry out more prostate treatments before expanding our RapidArc program to include other pelvic and head & neck treatments.
RapidArc delivers image-guided IMRT two to eight times faster than is possible with conventional IMRT. It delivers a precise and efficient treatment in single or multiple arcs of the treatment machine around the patient. It provides greater patient comfort and faster treatments. Faster treatments allow for greater precision, since there is less chance of patient or tumor movement during treatment delivery and, with less time on the treatment couch.
Without any previous experience with RapidArc we successfully treated the first patient within two weeks of the RapidArc installation, adds David Sjostrom, deputy chief physicist. In order to routinely replace today’s standard IMRT treatments with RapidArc for all treatment sites, we need to strengthen our collaboration with Varian and other RapidArc users. In the future, we are hoping RapidArc will prove to be the best choice of treatment both in terms of delivery time and quality.
Every year Herlev Hospital carries out 48,000 radiation treatments, treating 3,000 new patients. All Varian accelerators at Herlev are equipped with the On-Board Imager device for modern, real-time image guidance, which is integral to RapidArc treatments.
Clinicians at Herlev wanted us to enable them to offer patients advanced image-guided treatments when Varian machines and software were selected to replace their previous equipment two years ago and I am very pleased that we have been able to meet their expectations of us, adds Sten Hornsleth, Varian’s Scandinavian country manager. Herlev Hospital is now offering radiotherapy treatments that are among the most advanced in the world, which is good news for cancer patients in Denmark.
