It took a semi hauling 50 crates and will take six weeks to assemble, but the piece of medical equipment central to the cancer treatment services the Helmsley Center in Pierre will provide, arrived today (Wed.).
The linear accelerator, often referred to as the LINAC (lynn-ack), is the piece of equipment that delivers radiation therapy and is the device around which the Helmsley Center project primarily revolves.
President and Chief Medical Officer for Avera St. Mary’s Hospital Dr. Mikel Holland says CAT scans identify the dimension and location of a tumor. From there, doctors can program the linear accelerator to deliver pinpointed X-ray beams of radiation to kill tumor cells.
The huge piece of equipment will be located in the linear accelerator vault on first floor of the Helmsley Center. The $1-million vault to house the $1-million LINAC machine is made from 7.5 foot thick concrete walls to contain the radiation.
Holland says the arrival of the LINAC is a big milestone in the Helmsley Center project bringing the facility a giant step toward providing comprehensive cancer care in central South Dakota.
Construction is on schedule. A public open house for the Helmsley Center is scheduled for September 30 from 11am–2pm.
