Patients undergoing radiation therapy at White Plains Hospital Center no longer have to hold still in uncomfortable positions for minutes on end while being treated.
The new RapidArc treatment is two to eight times faster than conventional radiotherapy. A $3.5 million machine delivers image-guided IMRT (intensity-modulated radiation therapy) very quickly, in a single rotation of the machine around the patient.
“Patients are very happy,” said Dr. Randy Stevens, director of radiation oncology at the hospital”™s Dickstein Cancer Treatment Center. “RapidArc is much easier on the patient. It”™s hard for people to hold still for long periods of time. By delivering doses more quickly, we can simultaneously improve the quality of care and make our patients more comfortable.”
RapidArc treatment at White Plains Hospital Center is delivered using a Trilogy medical linear accelerator from Varian Medical Systems, outfitted with an on-board imager kV imaging system for generating and using images to guide patient placement and treatment delivery. The linear accelerator rotates around the patient to deliver the radiation treatments from nearly any angle.Â
Stevens said the hospital, which treats some 50 patients a day on the machine, is the first in the Westchester/Fairfield region ”“ and is among a handful of providers in the metro area to offer the technology.
“We have a long history of trying to make sure that we”™re always at the leading edge of technology,” said Jon Schandler, hospital president and CEO. Three years ago, White Plains Hospital Center was the first hospital in Westchester and Fairfield to acquire the da Vinci robotic system. It has been used to perform hundreds of prostatectomy”™s (removal of cancerous prostates) with tiny incisions, resulting in less bleeding and scarring and quicker recoveries.
“The effort is to make sure we provide the best state-of-the-art equipment that we can,” Schandler said.
