Varian TrueBeam® Linear Accelerator

Fairfield Medical Center’s capabilities to treat cancer have been significantly advanced with the addition of a Varian TrueBeam® linear accelerator. With this state-of-the-art technology, FMC offers the highest quality radiation treatment possible without the inconvenience of traveling to a larger hospital for treatment.

The new linear accelerator offers increased precision in targeting cancer cells with less damage to surrounding healthy tissue. Enhanced imaging tools deliver detailed, high-quality 3D images of tumors and surrounding areas in real time. While these images are delivered faster than ever before, synchronized imaging, beam shaping and dose delivery, and accuracy checks every 10 milliseconds ensure that precision is not sacrificed for speed.

“The radiation coming out of the machine is shaped better than it was before – we’ve gone from eight beams to a continuous beam,” Mark Becker, MD, radiation oncologist with FHP Radiation Oncology said. “The normal tissue will get smaller and smaller amounts of radiation therapy the more beams you add, and now with a continuously moving beam, you have a very, very low toxicity to normal structures.”

Another benefit of the new machine is higher radiation dose delivery, so each treatment is shorter, and the total number of treatments is reduced. “The longest treatment times right now are for patients with lung and prostate cancer, and those will absolutely see a drop from 40 minutes down to only 5 to 10 minutes,” Dr. Becker explained. “The RapidArc® technology can make treatment significantly shorter, as well as potentially decrease side effects by reducing high radiation doses to some organs.”

In addition to faster and more precise treatments, the new linear accelerator allows FMC to treat very small tumors and more types of cancer. “The most significant change in cancers that we treat will be brain tumors smaller than 1.5 cm. The machine also has higher energy, so treating women with larger breasts or patients with deep-seated tumors will be easier, with fewer side effects.”

“The biggest thing is knowing that this piece of equipment is comparable to any other type of equipment that is in Central Ohio at this time. It’s going to advance the care of the patients we have under our wing.”