Ida B. Scudder Cancer Center
Department of Radiation Oncology
Christian Medical College, Vellore
Radiation Therapy Facilities
The department is facilitated with the latest state-of-the-art equipment in both external beam Radiation Therapy and Remote After-loading Brachytherapy treatment facility. Patients from different parts of the country as well as international patients are referred to us so that they can have cost-effective “State of the Art” Radiation Therapy treatment.
The department functions in both the Town Campus and the Ranipet Campus.
Teletherapy
The Accuray TomoTherapy treatment unit is among the most revolutionary radiotherapy innovations in the history of cancer treatment, completely redefining the standard for individualized and precise treatment of tumours anywhere in the body. It provides versatile, efficient and effective radiotherapy solutions for a variety of radiation oncology patients. It is the first truly complete IGRT/IMRT solution, that combines integrated CT imaging for precise treatment delivery with a first-of-its-kind helical treatment delivery platform that uses a unique patented binary MLC. The inclusion of TomoTherapy to our department has radically revolutionized our TMLI treatments with respect to planning and treatment delivery.
The Varian TrueBeam STx with advanced 6 degrees of freedom couch is designed with patient needs in mind to deliver precise dosage to treat cancers anywhere in the body. It has flexible treatment options providing a variety of treatment techniques such as 3DCRT, VMAT, IMRT, IGRT, SBRT, SRT, SRS and TBI. The TrueBeam STx boasts several photon energies (2.5 MV, 6 MV, 10 MV, 15 MV, 6 FFF, 10 FFF and 15 FFF) and electron energies (6 MeV, 9 MeV, 12 Mev and 15 MeV). It is complemented with the 120 Leaf HDMLC allowing a maximum MLC defined field size of 40 cm x 22 cm. Its onboard kV and MV imaging systems enables image guidance and adaptive radiation therapy. It’s HDMLCs are designed for stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) with a maximum dose rate of upto 2400 MU/min on FFF photon beam energies. This “State-of-the-Art” technology eliminates the need for invasive frames traditionally used in frame-based radiosurgery. The combination of the Brainlab Cranial 4Pi frameless system and a thermoplastic mask enables frameless radiosurgery, providing optimal patient comfort made possible with the integration of the Brainlab Elements and ExacTrac Dynamic systems.
The Varian Clinac 2100C/D with exactrac IGRT couch comes with 120 Leaf Millenium MLCs with a maximum field size of 40 x 40 cm2 allowing to treat patients with large tumours. It is equipped with on board kV and MV imaging systems allowing for image guidance and accurate delivery of treatment. It has served as a workhorse enabling to deliver a variety of treatment options such as 3DCRT, VMAT, IMRT, TBI, TMLI and TSET. The Clinac supports several photon (6 MV and 15 MV) and electron energies (4 MeV, 6 MeV, 9 MeV, 12 Mev and 15 MeV) enabling the treatment of cancers at different depths throughout the body.
The Varian TrueBeam STx in the town campus is an advanced linear accelerator equipped with Varian’s 120 Leaf HDMLC to provide accurate delivery of dose to perform high-precision stereotactic radiosurgery and IMRT. It aids the delivery of dynamic conformal treatments such as VMAT, IMRT, IGRT, SRS, SRT and SBRT in addition to conventional 3DCRT and electron treatment options. The availability of flattening filter free photon energies with higher dose rates (upto 2400 MU/min) plays a vital role in the reduction of the overall treatment time for hypo fractionated treatments such as SBRT and SRT while ensuring patient comfort and ease. The TrueBeam STx in the Town campus has several photon energies with and without flattening filter (6 MV, 10 MV, 6 FFF and 10 FFF) and electron energies (6 MeV, 9 MeV, 12 MeV, 15 MeV and 18 MeV).
The Theratron-80 Equinox telecobalt machine (Best Theratronics, Canada) uses a Cobalt-60 radioisotope with an average beam energy of 1.25 MeV to treat cancer via external beam radiation therapy. This treatment unit is reliable and simple and has proved beneficial to cure cancers. The machine is controlled by an advanced software control system which offers continuous treatment monitoring.
Brachytherapy
The Elekta Flexitron® HDR brachytherapy unit is a High Dose Rate (HDR) automated remote afterloading treatment system that raises the bar on safety standards and ensures protection of healthcare specialists from unwanted radiation exposure while treating their patients’ safety. The afterloading system offers precision and reliability as it drives the radioactive source mechanically to pre-programmed locations within an applicator placed in the patient and holds it in place for a certain preset time period. The 192Ir (Iridium-192) source is the most commonly used isotope for HDR afterloading brachytherapy worldwide. Its small physical dimension and high specific activity make it a preferred radionuclide for brachytherapy treatments. The Nucletron Microselectron’s HDR 192Ir source has an active length of 3.6 mm and a diameter of 0.6 mm with an apparent initial activity of 10 Ci encapsulated in a stainless-steel casing with an outer diameter of 0.9 mm welded to a steel cable for attachment to the remote after-loading machine. High dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy treatments enable highly conformal treatment of patients with localized cancers of the prostate, cervix, endometrium, breast, skin, bronchus, esophagus, head and neck and several other types of cancer. This form of treatment is highly efficient as it allows a higher dose of radiation to be delivered to a limited area than might be possible with conventional radiation treatments that are delivered externally. This can be more effective at destroying the cancer cells while minimizing damage to surrounding normal tissue.
Simulators
CT Simulators have increased the standard of care in Radiotherapy. CT imaging data provide a complete 3-D view of the patient’s anatomy, allowing for more accurate delineation of the tumor and the surrounding normal tissues. In addition, the CT data inherently include the associated tissue density information, which is a necessity for 3-D radiotherapy treatment planning. Our dedicated CT Simulators replicate the radiotherapy treatment unit’s flat tabletop that allows for more accurate tumor localization, treatment visualization, and reproducible treatment delivery.
Treatment planning systems
Tab Content
Vellore Campus
Ida B Scudder Cancer Centre,
Department of Radiation Oncology,
Christian Medical College, Vellore,
Vellore Campus
Tamil Nadu - 632004,
India
Ranipet Campus
Ida B Scudder Cancer Centre,
Department of Radiation Oncology,
Christian Medical College, Vellore, Ranipet Campus, Ratnagiri,
Kilminnal,
Ranipet
Tamil Nadu 632517 India
Call Us
RT 1 - 0416-2283145
Email Us
rt1@cmcvellore.ac.in
rt2@cmcvellore.ac.in
rt3@cmcvellore.ac.in