New Age Linear Accelerator Blest 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 Arch Bishop of Delhi Archdiocese and Mr Micheal Dsouza Entrepreneur and Philanthropist as treasured guest.

Rev. Fr Richard Aloysius Coelho Director Father Muller Charitable Institutions welcomed the guest and the gathering and briefed on the journey of procuring 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 9th 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 accurate and the machine is capable of treating high/large number of cancer patients within a short duration.

The Department of Radian Oncology is headed by Senior Professor Dr Donald J Fernandes 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 :

Brachytherapy: HDR – Eclipse V3 18 channel Oncentra TPS –CT/ MRI Compatible

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