Expedited Installation of 2012 Varian Trilogy

ROS is proud to announce the successful completion of an installation of a used 2012 Varian Trilogy linear accelerator at a cancer center in need of an upgraded radiation therapy machine, in the southeastern United States. The medical facility previously had an older, twenty-one year old Varian 21EX linear accelerator that lacked an “OBI imaging system,” which allows for cone beam CT imaging.  Cone beam CT imaging provides a three-dimensional image of the patient prior to the treatment with radiation, allowing for more precise visualization of the tumor volume inside the patient’s body.  With the newer linear accelerator, the facility can now treat using more advanced technologies such as SRS (stereoscopic radiosurgery) for the treatment of head tumors.  The Varian Trilogy LINAC also came with Rapid Arc® which allows for faster radiation treatment times than the prior machine did.

Finding the right machine in the used medical equipment market is not always easy.  ROS purchased and stored the Trilogy at its warehouse until the center was ready for their new machine. Once the de-installation of the old equipment began, the ROS team ensured an expedient and easy process.  The facility needed an “expedited” installation, meaning extra resources were provided for a faster project.  The older LINAC machine was removed in two days, and the installation of the newer Varian Trilogy began immediately thereafter. Two qualified engineers worked onsite throughout the process to ensure a speedy installation.  A new Transtector dual output power conditioner was also installed to operate the 480V that the OBI imaging system requires.

Tommy Hughes, the ROS associate who worked on this project, commented, “I really enjoyed working on this project from start to finish.  Nothing is more fulfilling than seeing a beautiful machine extend its useful life by having it relocated to a new home.  I really hope that hospitals all over the U.S. realize that destroying used equipment is a complete shame, and that it hurts patients all over the world.”

It took approximately three weeks from the commencement of the project to the machine being fully operational.  It was soon being used to treat patients, after the physics commissioning process. We’re proud to have executed this installation within a tight timeframe and to help this facility with better technology to help cancer patients and to save even more lives!