CHSL upgrades TomoTherapy machine to TomoHD(tm)

As construction of its second radiation oncology facility in Colombo nears completion, Ceylinco Healthcare Services (CHSL) has announced it is upgrading the TomoTherapy machine it had ordered for the facility to an even more advanced TomoHD(tm) unit.

The new TomoHD treatment system from Accuray Inc., of USA, bundles technologies previously available only as options for the TomoTherapy Hi-Art(r) system that had originally been ordered, as well as new core technologies, the company said.

Consequently, the new machine -- the first of its kind in Sri Lanka -- can provide significantly more accurate radiation therapy for even the smallest tumors and reduce treatment times, Dr. Sarath Abeykoon, Medical Director of the Ceylinco Healthcare Centre said.

TomoTherapy is an integrated, advanced form of image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT). Because a patient's anatomy can change from day-to-day, image-guided radiation therapy helps doctors make immediate adjustments to allow for tumor movement or shrinkage, weight loss and more.

While conventional radiation therapy machines deliver a wide beam of radiation from only a few angles, TomoTherapy allows doctors to deliver radiation therapy from all angles around the patient. The all-in-one system lets the doctor scan and treat the patient with a single piece of equipment, which makes radiation therapy precise, fast and personalized and saves normal tissue.

Along with the new TomoHD machine, Ceylinco Healthcare is also acquiring the latest 'ultra-fast treatment planning system' called the VoLO, Dr. Abeykoon said.

Ceylinco Healthcare Services is building its second Radiation Treatment Unit at Park Street, Colombo 2, in close proximity to the company's first Radiation Treatment Unit, which commenced operation in September 2007. The new TomoHD machine costing US$ 3.725 million, will be installed in a solid concrete bunker built to specifications provided by the Atomic Energy Authority, on the ground floor of the new building. The project has been granted Board of Investment (BOI) status.

Elaborating on the benefits of the new TomoHD treatment system, Dr. Abeykoon said it will accommodate future innovations, including the Advanced TomoTherapy Delivery Technique, a research initiative expected to reduce treatment times by 40 percent to 70 percent, while improving treatment quality. TomoTherapy is non-invasive and as painless as having a CT scan or an X-ray, Dr. Abeykoon added. It takes only a few minutes a day, and is capable of treating small, large and multiple tumors -- in multiple areas of the body -- during the same treatment session.

TomoTherapy can be used to treat cancers all over the body, but is especially effective for pediatric cancers, head and neck, pancreatic, left-sided breast, anal and rectal cancers.