Ceylinco Healthcare Centre enhances IMRT facilities

The Ceylinco Radiation Treatment Unit of Ceylinco Healthcare Centre, the country’s only state-of-the-art private radiation treatment centre for cancer treatment, has acquired a sophisticated new device which further enhances its facilities for Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) for the treatment of various forms of cancer.

The latest MapCHECK 2 two-dimensional diode array, which verifies the accuracy of a dose of radiation before it is given to a patient, was purchased by the centre at a cost of Rs. 6.5 million, from the prestigious USA firm, Sun Nuclear Corporation.

This is the only MapCHECK 2 two-dimensional diode array available in Sri Lanka, the centre said.

Comprehensive training was also provided in the USA by the supplier to the personnel who operate the device at the centre.

“The introduction of this device is an important development since it will further enhance the precision and the quality of the IMRT treatment provided at the centre to cancer patients, without any increase in cost to them,” a spokesperson for the Ceylinco Healthcare Centre said.

“We have been constantly upgrading facilities at the centre to offer an unparalleled service at an affordable price to our patients.”

The Linear Accelerator machine at the Ceylinco Healthcare Centre, which is used to perform IMRT treatment, was also the first of its kind imported to the country.

The MapCHECK 2 two-dimensional diode array contains 1,527 detectors – more than any other two-dimensional array. The device is capable of providing measurement results in real-time.

To date over 70 patients have successfully undergone IMRT treatment and more than 2,100 patients have undergone radiation treatment, brachytherapy and radioactive iodine treatments at the centre, which commenced operations in September 2007.

The six-storey, 19,000 square-foot Ceylinco Radiation Treatment Unit of Ceylinco Healthcare Centre comprises of a solid concrete bunker built to specifications provided by the atomic energy authority, the linear accelerator unit and two reception areas on the ground floor.

The upper floors house the brachytherapy unit, mould room, CT simulator room, computerised treatment planning unit, iodine treatment unit, doctors’ rooms, two wards and individual patient rooms and suites. The unit also offers facilities for chemotherapy treatments in a comfortable, non-hospital atmosphere.