As part of a 10-year Asteral Select managed equipment service contract, Asteral has now delivered and installed two new linear accelerators at the Royal Derby Hospital.
The equipment will support Derby Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s multi-disciplinary team and ensure the continued provision of a comprehensive specialist consultant-based service for the assessment, treatment, and follow-up of cancer patients.
The third and final Varian Truebeam linear accelerator will be installed and will be ready for clinical use by the end of this year.
The linac replacement plan started in January 2016, with the first new system going live for clinical use in August.
The second decommissioning process started in September, with installation of the second new system taking place in December.
This July will see the decommissioning of the third and final system and the third new machine installed and ready to use by the end of this year.
In conjunction with the three Truebeam scanners, the trust has also purchased an ARIA Oncology Information System and an Eclipse Treatment Planning System.
ARIA is a comprehensive information and image management solution that combines radiation, medical and surgical oncology information into a complete, oncology-specific electronic medical record, allowing the user to manage their patient's entire journey from initial diagnosis to post-treatment follow-up.
Eclipse is an integrated and comprehensive treatment planning system.
With an intuitive Windows-based interface, designed to increase productivity for clinicians using simplified data settings and easy drag-and-drop functionality.
With the trust’s new Varian kit, Eclipse works hand in hand with the ARIA oncology information system, making workflow smooth, integrated and seamless.
As Varian takes radiation treatment to the next level, Eclipse is designed to advance along with it, helping to aid cancer treatment using the latest in technologies.
Lorna MacDonald, The trust’s radiotherapy services manager, said: “The machines have made a huge difference to us.
“They have in-built technology to provide imaging during the treatment, which means we can provide much-more-targeted treatment.
“Our patients seem very happy with the new machines.”
Around 40 patients a day are treated by each machine, for a variety of cancers.