The Northern Centre for Cancer Care is the largest centre of its kind in the North of England. Based at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle upon Tyne, the centre’s current linear accelerator portfolio includes five ONCOR™ systems from Siemens Healthcare. Each ONCOR is being upgraded to 160 multileaf collimator (MLC) capabilities to improve conformal shaping of radiotherapy treatment beams and IMRT (Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy) delivery. This will ensure a higher level of precision during treatment.
The centre has also recently installed a Siemens MAGNETOM® Espree MRI. This is the first Siemens MRI in the UK dedicated to radiotherapy treatment planning. The Espree combines revolutionary performance, increased patient satisfaction and a broad array of applications. The 1.5 Tesla system also features a 70cm internal bore and short 125cm system length. This means patients have 30cm of headroom during scans to ease feelings of claustrophobia.
“The upgraded ONCOR systems will enable us to improve conformal therapy plus offer more IMRT,” said Gill Lawrence, Head of Radiotherapy Physics at the Northern Centre for Cancer Care. “When the upgrades have been established, we will be able to provide IMRT to our prostate cancer patients and this will be a far quicker process with 160MLC capabilities. With the addition of the Espree MRI, we will be able to complement the treatment planning imaging systems already in place – the wide bore was a key factor in the decision to opt for the Siemens equipment as it offers a better patient experience.”
“The Northern Centre for Cancer Care has some of the latest equipment available for treating cancer and we’re delighted to be able to supply the first Siemens MRI in the UK dedicated to radiotherapy treatment planning,” said Neil Lincoln, Regional Sales Manager at Siemens Healthcare. “Combined with high specification upgrades on five of our linear accelerators, the centre will be able to offer the best quality care and treatment planning for patients.”
About Siemens Healthcare
The Siemens Healthcare Sector is one of the world's largest suppliers to the healthcare industry and a trendsetter in medical imaging, laboratory diagnostics, medical information technology and hearing aids. Siemens is the only company to offer customers products and solutions for the entire range of patient care from a single source – from prevention and early detection to diagnosis and on to treatment and aftercare. By optimising clinical workflows for the most common diseases, Siemens also makes healthcare faster, better and more cost-effective. Siemens Healthcare employs some 49,000 employees worldwide and operates in over 130 countries. In fiscal year 2008 (to September 30), the Sector posted revenue of 11.2 billion euros and profit of 1.2 billion euros. For further information please visit: www.siemens.com/healthcare.
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Siemens Healthcare
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