As the number of cancer patients increases, a third machine has been installed to cope with the treatments that need to be placed at the polyclinic.
A third particle accelerator for treating cancers with radiotherapy has been installed at the central site of the Polyclinic de l’Armeu. With this advanced technology, patients benefit from more precise treatment while better protecting sensitive organs such as the heart. The project was led by the Clinical Committee of the Pyrenees Radiotherapy and Oncology Group. It comes to improve the territory’s care offering in the fight against cancer. Dr. Guillaume Peyraga presented this new machine called Halcyon.
La Semaine: What will this new machine bring?
Guillaume Peyraga : Today we are inaugurating the third machine which will make it possible to treat patients departmentally. It is an innovative machine of the latest generation. We had two accelerators for decades. Cancer activity is increasing. Screening is growing. There are more and more cancers. They’re being treated better and better, so people are living longer, and therefore needing more and more treatments, of which radiation is a part.
Having a new machine is important to the Ormeau Clinic to improve patient care and treat them as quickly as possible.
“We were with two perfect time machines. We couldn’t work from 6 am to 11 pm.
So the aim is to be able to treat all patients…
We were with two perfect time machines. We could not work from 6 am to 11 pm. So a third accelerator was installed. As this 3rd accelerator belongs to the latest generation, it allows patients to be treated at ease, as quickly as possible and with even better quality. Has excellent processing accuracy. There are fewer side effects, which also means a better quality of life.
When did she arrive at the site?
The new machine arrived at Ormeau Polyclinic on Monday, February 27, 2023. There was snow! Bringing her with a basket is very funny and dangerous. The tender for this was ordered a year ago. We did business with an American company that sold 80 to 90% of radiotherapy machines in France. In its appearance, it looks like a scanner but not in its functionality. It is an investment of almost 5 million euros. Our aging accelerators will be replaced next year. He is about ten years old. We cycle every 10 years. The second accelerator was installed 5 years ago.
“An accelerator can treat 50 patients per day. It belongs to the latest generation and will make it possible to treat 60 people.
How many patients can be treated with such machines?
An accelerator can treat 50 patients per day. It belongs to the latest generation and makes it possible to treat 60 of them. A patient stays in this machine for 10 minutes. This can take up to 20 minutes for specialized treatments where the patient’s breathing is managed. Now able to meet the demand. Before this 3rd machine arrived, we felt nervous. This is why we did not hesitate for a second to invest. This allows us to maintain quality and above all respect processing times. We cannot tell a cancer patient that we are going to wait 3 months to start treatment. Don’t waste time. It is necessary to start the treatment after a month after various consultations. Without this machine during the year, we know it will be difficult to cope.
“Most cancers affect people beyond retirement”
Are there too many patients to treat?
All cancers progress for a number of reasons. First, because we live longer. Second, because we detect them and monitor them better. And there are more factors in the environment that lead to more cancers in our daily lives. We manage evolving screenings for breast cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer… most cancers affect people beyond retirement. Here, we treat all cancers except pediatric cancers that affect children treated at referral centers. They are exceptional and require extensive expertise to treat them. From there, you should go to Toulouse and Bordeaux.
How is your team structured to operate these machines?
We have many trades. There are doctors who initiate treatment. We have electroradiology technicians who run the scanner to prepare the rays and they do the rays on a daily basis. But before coming to the rays, we have dosimetrists, physicists and secretaries. We have about fifteen electroradiology manipulators to drive three accelerators (5 per machine). We have 4 physicists and 3 dosimetrists.
What do you think about artificial intelligence and are you already using it?
It is already a daily help, especially when we prepare treatments. It makes our job easier even though it is always necessary to check. You need to master artificial intelligence. When mastered and used wisely it saves time and above all it is better in the end!
What else is in store for this new generation machine?
Its appearance is different but the most important of its difference is that it allows daily transfer. In order to treat the millimeter well, images should be taken to position the patient before treatment. This machine allows you to perform a kind of scan before each session to position the patient correctly and check if the tumor is in the right place. The other two machines scan once a week and take x-rays daily. With the new engine, daily shifting will be better and more accurate. No wave of technological push came in these machines. There was one ten years ago. A message is coming today.
“Bravo and thank you”
Dr. Bernard Gooderg, who created the oncology center at the Clinic de l’Armeo in 1972, said a few words that he directed until 2012: “I am very emotional in this treatment room where radiation therapy began 50 years ago. Picoray. At first we were a very small team. In this room, Many patients were being treated. I have an affectionate thought and particularly strong memories for them and for my dead colleagues. Dear Guillaume, I know that you had the taste to have the most beautiful painting in this room and that you are going to re-install it in a meeting room. You Pau – Tarbes – managed to build in the triangle of Lourdes and beyond, an exceptional offer in radiotherapy for patients like Bigourdans, Béarn and Gascons. You have a very high technology base with 6 latest generation particle accelerators: 3 tarps and 3 pav and top men to pilot them and With a group of women. In short, this is the best position. You are proving, like you, that there is room for large-scale projects in the two regions of Occitany and New Aquitaine when we know how to cross borders, with a lot of good will and intelligence. Congratulations on this success and thank you to all cancer patients. “
“Travel aficionado. Incurable bacon specialist. Tv evangelist. Wannabe internet enthusiast. Typical creator.”