UK center’s Elekta Harmony linac benefits patients and radiographers

System at Lancashire’s Royal Preston Hospital provides ideal balance of productivity, precision and versatility

Radiographers at Royal Preston Hospital (Lancashire Teaching Hospitals, NHS Foundation Trust) have been enjoying the unique design features of Elekta Harmony, innovations that not only enhance the patient’s treatment experience, but that also make the radiographers’ workday easier and more productive. At Royal Preston, Harmony is used to treat about 28 patients each day.

“When we were exploring the replacement of one of our department’s three linacs, we knew we wanted a system that would complement the workflow of our two existing Versa HD™ linacs,” says Gillian Clarkson, radiotherapy service manager . “The versatility of Harmony stood out for us – we knew that we could precisely treat a variety of different disease sites, including breast, lung, pelvic and head-and-neck cancers. We could also maintain a high level of patient care by having the radiographers remain beside the patient, who can see the staff at all times.”

In addition, Harmony could be beam matched with the Versa HD systems, enabling staff to easily swap patients between the three systems, if necessary (i.e., scheduled service downtime), according to Clarkson.

Clarkson’s colleague, consultant clinical oncologist Arafat Mirza, MD, adds that the Harmony system’s precision and versatility were key factors for him.

“With Harmony, we can treat several cancers and deliver various treatment techniques.”

“With Harmony, we can treat several cancers and deliver various treatment techniques,” Dr. Mirza says. “Having one machine that can manage a wide range of cases helps streamline our operations and reduces the need for multiple devices. In addition, we were particularly attracted to its FastTrack feature, which is designed to reduce set up time and decrease overall time slots. Finally, we knew that Harmony would be 100 percent compatible with our Versa HD linacs.”

These aspects of Harmony solidified the department’s decision to acquire Harmony. Before the linac was delivered, staff began online training and once Harmony arrived Elekta personnel provided the customary on-site training. Clarkson admits there was some apprehension concerning the length of the learning curve, but these worries were quickly alleviated.

“Aside from modifications to the location and features of the table controls and the linac’s center hub display, we were really quite amazed with the system’s simplicity.”

“Aside from modifications to the location and features of the table controls and the linac’s center hub display, we were really quite amazed with the system’s simplicity,” Clarkson observes. “So, the on-site training wasn’t critical – it was more about getting our hands on the linac and spending a little bit of time to play with it and get used to the hand controls.”

Dr. Mirza concurs with Clarkson regarding the ease of training.

“One of the things that impressed us most about Harmony was how smooth the installation and training process was,” he says. “Transitioning to new equipment in a radiotherapy department can often be disruptive, but that was not the case with Harmony. Installation was remarkably straightforward, and – due to how intuitive the system is to use – our staff found the transition to Harmony simple, because it integrates so well with existing workflows, which reduced the learning curve significantly.”

Radiographers appreciate Harmony features

Clarkson says that the FastTrack in-room experience stands out as an exceptional Harmony feature.

“The automated verification – which combines patient facial recognition and accessory verification – has been very useful,” she says. “The patient walks down the maze, and you could be in a conversation with them and this feature goes ‘ping!’ and confirms it’s the correct patient, then automatically sends the information to Harmony, which eliminates having the radiographers double-click on the MOSAIQ® OIS to find that patient record. That saves time straight away.”

Clarkson adds that radiographers have noticed that patients appreciate automated verification because it gives them added reassurance.

“Patients can see their face and a big checkmark beside it at the center hub, confirming that the machine is actually set up for them.”

“Patients can see their face and a big checkmark beside it at the center hub, confirming that the machine is actually set up for them,” she explains. “That really surprised me – that FastTrack wasn’t just going to benefit radiographers.”

The ergonomic table controls mounted directly on the patient support puts radiographers always close to the patient.

“Patients can see them all the time – they’re not moving around looking to see where the radiographer has disappeared to,” Clarkson says. “Having the table control right there also cuts down on time, because radiographers aren’t walking away to get a handset. They can see everything at the hub and change between screens if they need to.

“With the Harmony features, we’ve taken four minutes off of every treatment slot.”

“With the Harmony features, we’ve taken four minutes off of every treatment slot,” she continues. “That’s great, because the radiographers have more time to talk to the patient, and from a patient perspective, it means they’re on the bed for less time and less time for them to move out of position, which has translated into fewer repeat images. From a manager’s standpoint, if we’re cutting four minutes from the workflow it potentially increases the number of patients we can treat.”

Second Harmony installed

Royal Preston Hospital recently installed a second Elekta Harmony beam-matched with the first system.

“Having a second functionally identical Harmony will add even more versatility to our department, allowing us to move patients between those two, as we do with the Versa HD systems as well,” Clarkson says.

“If someone at another radiotherapy department asked me if they should acquire a Harmony, there wouldn’t be any reluctance at all for me to say yes straight away,” she adds. “For me, the patient benefits of Harmony alone would the ultimate selling point, but you can’t underestimate the major advantages for the staff and the department.”

“If someone at another radiotherapy department asked me if they should acquire a Harmony, there wouldn’t be any reluctance at all for me to say yes straight away.”

Click here to learn more about radiation therapy with Elekta Harmony.

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