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You guys think camshaft tech and the like is high tech, right? Well, here's REAL high tech. Remember, this starts out with an atom smasher (cyclotron) splitting apart hydrogen atoms to free the protons. (cut & paste)
I thought you guys might enjoy these. Last night he gantry crew took some shots of me getting treated and here they are. Lots of Star Wars tech here but absolutely painless.
1) Me getting onto the gantry "bed".
2) Getting aligned. It's important that the patient is in JUST the right place so the beam only gets the places that need it.
3) Apertures (the brass things) and the compensator. The apertures shape the beam to JUST the shape of the tumor - it takes 2 of them to shield the rest of the beam and keep it from penetrating. The compensator (the plexiglass ring) reduces the power of the beam and helps set the depth of penetration. For perspective, these are about 8" in diameter and the apertures are about 2+ inches thick. There's a different set for the other side - they shoot from one side one day and the opposite side the next.
4) Here you can see the compensator in place and I'm about to start actual treatment. 2-3 minutes later I'm done.
These pics are kind of grainy but the light in the gantry rooms is pretty low so it's the best we could get. I think this technology is fascinating and it's SO cool to be the beneficiary of it.
Dan
I thought you guys might enjoy these. Last night he gantry crew took some shots of me getting treated and here they are. Lots of Star Wars tech here but absolutely painless.
1) Me getting onto the gantry "bed".
2) Getting aligned. It's important that the patient is in JUST the right place so the beam only gets the places that need it.
3) Apertures (the brass things) and the compensator. The apertures shape the beam to JUST the shape of the tumor - it takes 2 of them to shield the rest of the beam and keep it from penetrating. The compensator (the plexiglass ring) reduces the power of the beam and helps set the depth of penetration. For perspective, these are about 8" in diameter and the apertures are about 2+ inches thick. There's a different set for the other side - they shoot from one side one day and the opposite side the next.
4) Here you can see the compensator in place and I'm about to start actual treatment. 2-3 minutes later I'm done.
These pics are kind of grainy but the light in the gantry rooms is pretty low so it's the best we could get. I think this technology is fascinating and it's SO cool to be the beneficiary of it.
Dan
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