Department of Radiotherapy ❯ Our Techniques ❯ Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy

Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT) technology is now available in HKSH with the installation of the new Versa HD Accelerator from Elekta.

VMAT is volumetric-arc radiotherapy which delivers a sculpted 3D-dose distribution precisely with a 360-degree rotation of the linear accelerator gantry. As the gantry rotates, the planning algorithm is able to modulate the speed of the gantry rotation, the shape of the multileaf collimator and the dose rate of the beam continuously. This allows for the delivery of high dose radiation to the target while reducing dose to surrounding organs at risk. Literature has shown that arc therapy is effective for a multitude of cancers, including cranial, head and neck, prostate and cervical tumours.

Oncologists can use complete or partial arcs to reduce treatment delivery times from the 10-15 minutes in conventional radiotherapy to as short as 2 minutes. Reduction in treatment time decreases the likelihood of patient movement during treatment, further increasing treatment accuracy. VMAT also allows for increased patient throughput which shortens waiting lists.

This technique provided by Versa HD^TM.