A new $6.2 million treatment device at Kadlec Tri-Cities Cancer Center is expected to expand cancer and non-cancer health care options in the region and offer more efficient and individualized care. 

The new Varian TrueBeam Hypersight Linear Accelerator combines computer tomography (CT) scanning with radiation treatment technology, according to a release. The new device is part of an investment by Providence, Kadlec’s owner, that also included the cost of construction to house it at the cancer center, as well as an update to another radiation treatment machine. 

“When it was time to replace the older machine, we said we wanted to get the best of the best, and we have,” said Steven Bosma, a medical physicist at the cancer center, in a statement. “This is the top of the top.” 

Among the machine’s multiple benefits for patients: 

• CT scans to assess treatment progress can be captured during treatment.
• More precise targeting of tumors, even to the point that the machine will stop and reposition during treatment if a patient moves slightly. 
• Shorter treatment times, even for patients with multiple tumors. 

The machine also will be able to treat non-cancerous conditions such as osteoarthritis. Low dose radiation treatment has been found successful in treating the condition in those for whom medications or injections no longer work. 

“It quiets the inflammatory cytokines that otherwise lead to swelling and pain in the affected joint,” said Dr. Ryan Kraus, a radiation oncologist at the cancer center, in a statement. “It can really improve someone’s quality of life. Two out of three people have a meaningful response that can last for years.”