AR Gould Finishes LINAC Replacement

PRESQUE ISLE, Maine (WAGM) - Northern Light AR Gould Hospital has completed the replacement of its linear accelerator, known as the LINAC. The system provides lifesaving radiation therapy to cancer patients across Aroostook County. Cancer treatment will look different at Northern Light AR Gould Hospital. The former Varian 9 C Series LINAC has been upgraded to a TrueBeam. The new system delivers radiation therapy with greater precision and speed, and hospital staff say the upgrade has already increased the number of treatments they can offer each week.

“This new machine, number one is faster. It means that the patient being on treatment table less which is more convenient for the patient. The 1st week the first 3 days was only 2 hours for treatment and in the 1st week we can add almost 10 patients in total for the treatment. For the center so that we can treat more patients when it’s faster we have more capacity for more patients. Everything was very smooth, and training was done completely, and currently we are in full capacity,” said Dr. Naghmeh Isfahanian, Lead Radiation Oncologist, Northern Light AR Gould.

Beyond shorter sessions, the new LINAC offers improved daily imaging, enhancing accuracy and consistency of care. “It doesn’t mean that the prior patient didn’t receive a good treatment, but we treated all of those that we are sure we provided adequate treatment but when we have a better daily imaging in future we might be able to treat some site like SBRT of the liver that we didn’t do it before. In the past, the liver SBRT went to another academic center but I’m quite optimistic that in the next few months we can do SBRT of the liver in our center. Those cases which was treated in the past was based on a standard. So, this machine might give us more opportunity for some of the cases that we didn’t treat in the past and currently we have a chance to treat it in the future,” said Isfahanian.

Northern Light AR Gould is the only hospital in northern Maine offering radiation therapy, and about 98% of the region’s treatments take place at Northern Light Cancer Care in Presque Isle.