New Advanced Cancer Detection Scanner Now in Use at Bay Med Jeppesen Center
|
||||||||||
| Printer Friendly Story View |
Dr. J. Fred Littles, MD, shows off the newly-installed GE LightSpeed scanner for advanced cancer detection and treatment at Bay Regional Medical Center's Jeppesen Radiation Oncology Center.
Deanna Salo, radiation therapist, demonstrates the various positions for cancer treatment of the high performance Varian Clinac 21EX linear accelerator at the Jeppesen Center.
Better technology equals better treatment, says Dr. J. Fred Littles, MD, radiation oncologist, with a knowing smile.
Last Thursday Chris Cossin, manager of radiation oncology at the Jeppesen Radiation Oncology Center flipped the switch on an $630,000 piece of equipment that will make planning for cancer treatment faster and more accurate.
"Now the doctor can see the tumor and the tissue around it and treat what needs to be treated," said Mr. Cossin. Dr. Littles, formerly chief of radiation oncology at the Veterans Administration Medical Center, Ann Arbor, is the staff oncologist at the Jeppesen Center.
Bay Regional Medical Center and Mid-Michigan Regional Medical Center have teamed up to put nearly $2 million in high tech equipment to work for patients in the tri-county area.
After renovations to the facility, the new scanner cost the center about $800,000, while a five-year-old Varian Medical Systems linear accelerator at the same facility is a more than $1 million device.
Dr. Littles, Mr. Cossin and their staff of radiation therapists all were smiling when the new equipment went on line. They know the high-powered gear will save time of patients and staff and will help cure disease and perhaps save lives.
"The best results begin with the best positioning and treatment planning," said Mr. Cossin, of Bay City, a former Livonia resident who attended Lansing Community College and radiation school in Detroit for two years.
"The new LightSpeed RT provides our doctors with the flexibility to optimally position patients to deliver highly detailed images that are a road map for precise treatment planning," said Mr. Cossin.
He noted that planning is the foundation for eradication of cancerous tissue and radiation treatment that works most successfully.
Deanna Salo, of Hemlock, a radiation therapist, said the new equipment provides faster service for patients -- now 10 to 20 minutes instead of an hour and a half and multiple visits.
"In one visit and a half hour to an hour we get all the information compared to three visits before," said Ms. Salo., adding: "This is a real benefit to our patients and it is more accurate."
She demonstrated the German-made VarianXimatron C-Series linear accelerator that uses radiographic and fluoroscopic images.
The Jeppesen Center staff noted American Cancer Society statistics that approximately one of every two men and one of every three women in America will have some type of cancer during their lives. About half of all cancer patients will need radiation therapy, according to the National Cancer Institute.
Radiation is primary treatment for cancers of the head, neck, lung, breast, prostate, cervix and vagina, ans well as Hodgkin's disease and early-stage lymphomas. In some cases, chemotherapy and radiation in combination can reduce the need for extensive surgery.
Using the LightSpeed RT CT system, doctors can see precisely where a tumor is located and account for any tumor motion related to breathing or organ movement as the plan for a patient's radiation treatment.
The Varian Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) uses computer-generated images to deliver tightly-focused radiation beams to cancerous tumors. The precision available with this machine significantly reduces the potential adverse effects of radiation on healthy tissue.
The physician staff of the Jeppesen Center includes also R.H. Mehta, MD, R.P. Kotecha, MD, Paul G. Kocheril, MD, Ramesh Vedula, MD.###
| Printer Friendly Story View |
|
|
Dave Rogers |
|
|
|
Printer-Friendly Story View
0200 Nd: 04-16-2024 d 4 cpr 0
12/31/2020 P3v3-0200-Ad.cfm
SPONSORED LINKS
12/31/2020 drop ads P3v3-0200-Ad.cfm