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The only tomotherapy in the Seattle Metro area is located here at Swedish/Ballard. When
Swedish was deciding to open up a center in Ballard, they chose the tomotherapy unit because
of its unique advantages in treating tumors. But they also wanted to open up a center that
was close to patients' homes and convenient for daily treatments. So this really allowed
us to combine both advantages into one small location that easily accessible, it's easy
to park. We have many patients that live so close by that they walk here each day. Tomotherapy
is a type of external beam radiation that's used to treat many types of cancers. It offers
really unparalleled treatment accuracy and precision in treating very complicated tumors
of very distinct sizes and shapes. One way it does this is it has an onboard imaging
CT scanner that allows us to image the patient precisely and determine if they're in the
right location. Then we can deliver a helical treatment plan where we have beams entering
from essentially all 360 degrees. We're the third center in the United States that has
the HDA tomotherapy upgrade which will allow us to treat with faster speed and more precision
in complex tumors. The accuracy itself delivered from the machine allows us to spare normal
organs, perhaps their kidneys, perhaps their normal lung, etc. And the more we can spare
the normal organs, the easier it is to tolerate radiation and the more useful it will be for
patients. Initially when we started, patients would come here every day for radiation but
would often receive their chemotherapy downtown. But now we'll be able to offer almost all
of those services right here in Ballard, including CT imaging, MRI, chemotherapy, radiation.
The medical oncologists are expanding in the area and providing many medical oncologists
right here on campus. I fell like we're definitely part of the community here at Ballard and
it's really exciting to be here right on Market Street where all the action is and I think
the community really appreciates having us here. We've been really welcomed.