RADIATION THERAPY FACILITIES
Facilities in Radiation Therapy
The Radiation Oncology Department at RGCI & RC has facilities for both
- External Beam Radiotherapy (EBRT) and
- Brachytherapy
External Beam Radiation Therapy
The external beam radiation therapy is the form of radiation treatment, delivering several beams of high-energy photons, electrons or protons through the skin to the cancer site and the immediate surrounding area in order to destroy the cancer cells. Typically the patient lies on a couch and the Gantry or Head of the machine rotates around, delivering radiation at a particular part of the body.
While megavoltage photons or protons are used to treat more deep-seated cancers (e.g. bladder, bowl, prostate, lung or brain), Electron beams are used for treating skin cancer and cancers seated in superficial tissues.
Steps in Radiation Treatment
![Steps in Radiation Treatment](https://www.rgcirc.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Steps-in-Radiation-Treatment.png)
Simulator
Simulation is the most important preparation step before the actual radiation treatment.
Siemens Somatom Sensation-Open CT- Simulator —The simulation room is equipped with this dedicated large-bore CT scanner called as Simulator.
During Simulation,–
- The treatment setup is replicated by positioning the patient on the flat couch immobilized by specially designed devices.
- The patient is then aligned with the help of reference low-energy lasers in the room and marked on the skin with tattoos.
- Finally, a CT scan is performed to acquire the anatomy of the reference treatment site.
- This CT scan would be used to identify the tumour area and also the surrounding normal critical organs to create a treatment plan that will guide the treatment machine to target the tumour accurately and spare the normal organs.
- The simulated setup will be exactly reproduced before each treatment by matching the reference lasers in the treatment room to the tattoos and comparing the 2D/3D on-board images with the simulation CT scan. The patient may need to spend from 15 minutes to 45 minutes to complete the entire process of simulation.
The department also has a 2D Simulator — Varian – Acuity Simulator, which is a specialized X-Ray fluoroscopy unit, having the same parameters as those of the therapy unit without its treatment capabilities.
A change of planning during the course of the treatment may often be need after a few days of radiation for selected cases using this equipment .
Linear Accelerator, or Linac
This is a machine that is commonly used to deliver external beam radiation treatments ( EBRT) to cancer patients. A linear accelerator is programmed to deliver high-energy X-rays that conform to the specific size, shape and location of a tumor. In this way, the LINAC can target and destroy cancerous cells in a precise area of a patient’s body with minimal exposure to the surrounding healthy tissue.
![](https://www.rgcirc.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Radiation-2.png)
The Radiation Oncology Department is equipped with 4 LINACs including , Accuray- Tomotherapy Radixact X9 with 6FFF photon beam with MV Imaging, capable of advanced state of arts IMRT, IGRT, Volumetric therapy and TBI techniques, Varian – Clinac-iX Rapid Arc, Varian – True Beam Stx, Elekta -Synergy with facilities of Photon Beam, Electron Beam, providing
- 3D-Conformal Radiotherapy
- Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy – IMRT
- Image Guided Radiotherapy (IGRT)
- Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT)
- Stereotactic Radiotherapy (SBRT)
- Tomotherapy
- Brachytherapy