North Fulton Today

Northside Hospital Cancer Institute has begun the installation of new technology that combines MRI with radiotherapy to treat tumors and cancers, including prostate, pancreas, liver and lung. 

The ViewRay MRIdian® MRI-guided radiation therapy system is the first in Georgia and will be located at the radiation oncology center on the Northside Atlanta campus. The new service should be available by the end of February 2023. 

"As a leader in cancer care in Georgia, we are excited to add the MRIdian system to our treatment services for cancer patients, particularly those patients who may not have had viable treatment options," said Dr. Ajaykumar Patel, radiation oncologist at Northside Hospital Cancer Institute. 

MRI-guided radiotherapy represents an advance in the field of radiation oncology. As a patient breathes or swallows, the tiniest movement can affect the position of a tumor. Making sure radiation therapy treatment hits a moving target can be challenging. 

The new radiation therapy system is unique in that it has a built-in MRI, which can capture multiple images every second. This allows specialists to track tumors and surrounding critical structures in real time and quickly compensate for any movement during treatment to more accurately and effectively target therapy. 

Original source can be found here.