New Age Linear Accelerator blessed at Father Muller

Mangaluru: The Father Muller Medical College Hospital has installed the New Age Linear Accelerator Varian HALCYONTM Elite in the Department of Radian Oncology which was blest by the Bishop of Mangalore Diocese Most Rev. Dr Peter Paul Saldanha on 13 May 2023. The Blessing and commissioning was attended by His Excellency Most Rev. Dr Anil Couto Archbishop of Delhi Archdiocese and Mr Micheal Dsouza Entrepreneur and Philanthropist as treasured guest.

Rev. Fr Richard Aloysius Coelho Director of Father Muller Charitable Institutions welcomed the guest and the gathered and briefed them on the journey of procuring of the machine. The earlier machine had served 15 years and exceeded its end-of-life years, thus came the need for a new and gen-next-tech machine to cater to patient care. The 30 crore setup is another feather in the cap of the Institutions as it was delivered and commissioned 15 days ahead of schedule.

The department of Radiation Oncology at FMMCH was inaugurated by Dr A.P.J Abdul Kalam, on 9 December 2007 and was equipped with a medical linear accelerator that was capable of providing Conformal radiation therapy which included 3DCRT, IMRT and IGRT treatment. In the last 15 years over 12,000 patients have been treated WITH care and compassion. Most of the cases were done under the Government scheme including Ayushman Bharath.

HALCYONTM Elite has easy patient setup and monitoring and is comfortable for the patient. Treatment planning is carried out with the most advanced Varian ‘Eclipse’ treatment planning system capable of IMRT, RAPIDARC, IGRT and SBRT. Treatment is delivered very fast and accurately and the machine is capable of treating a high/large number of cancer patients within a short duration.

Senior Professor Dr Donald J Fernandes heads the Department of Radian Oncology along with his experienced team consisting of Dr Sandesh Rao B, Associate Professor, Dr Krishnaraj, Assistant Professor and two Senior Residents – Dr Tony Jacob and Dr Lanisha Sequeira.

Services Offered by the department:
External Beam radiotherapy :
-Rapid Arc(RA)/Volumetric arc therapy(VMAT)
-Image guided radiation therapy(IGRT)
-Stereotactic body radiotherapy(SBRT)
-Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT)
-3D conformal Radiotherapy (3DCRT )
Palliative Radiotherapy
-Brachytherapy : HDR – Eclipse V3 18 channel Oncentra TPS –CT/ MRI Compatible
-Interstitial brachytherapy
-Intra luminal brachytherapy
-Intra caviatry brachytherapy
-Surface Mould
-Mould Room: Advanced facilities

The advanced state-of-the-art model of Varian- “Halcyon Elite” Ring gantry Linear Accelerator:

The entire treatment is more precise, more effective and has fewer complications and side effects. All patients undergo 100% IGRT with fast KV CBCT volumetric imaging/ MV CT for accurate localization and verification, increasing the precision and accuracy of treatment delivery. The treatment is capable of treating the exact location of the tumor with CT scan imagery preventing adjacent tissue loss.

Dr Lenisha compered the event, Mr Sridhar C.H. Associate Professor of Radian Physics delivered the vote of thanks and briefed on the machine. In attendance were members of the; Governing board, Father Muller Centenary Charitable Society, Management Committee Members, and Faculty/Staff and and Students of the Department of Radiation Oncology.