First pictures taken on Sunnybrook's new radiation and imaging machine, the first of its kind in Canada
Today, members of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre’s radiation team took the first images on the new MR-Linac — the Elekta Unity.
This new technology is the first machine in the world to combine radiation and high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and will let doctors at the Odette Cancer Centre target tumours and monitor their response to radiation with unprecedented precision — even as a tumour moves inside the body — thanks to the machine's real-time MRI guidance.
As the first Canadian centre to install an MR-Linac, Sunnybrook's team will remain at the forefront of cancer care, and an invaluable source of expertise and teaching for cancer ablation specialists across the country.
In the upcoming months, the team will image volunteers and continue to prepare the machine for clinical use. They hope to start treating patients in a clinical trial by early 2019.