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Frame from a YouTube video documenting linear accelerator installation
What does it take to install a LINAC? Don't try this at home, but we have come across a nifty time-lapse video documenting the December 2006 installation of a linear accelerator at Central Coast Radiation & Oncology Centre, in the town of Gosford, New South Wales, Australia.
The installation was done by Hi-Tech Express Holding Pty Ltd of Taren Point, NSW. The company deinstalled a Varian unit and replaced it with an Elekta Clinax. (The Varian was decommissioned due to age.)
The project is shown in just a few minutes in the video (see link below--don't adjust your sound.) In reality it took two weekends' work by a crew of 10 including engineers, riggers, and transport people.
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After a pre-site evaluation, the team set to work on the building itself.
"We took all care with protection of the flooring and we had to move and then replace furniture that was in our pathway," said Owen Turner, National Sales & Project Manager, Hi-Tech Express Holding Pty Ltd. "We used our five-ton lifting A-frame to remove the counterweight, then lift the Clinax up onto skates to remove it from the site. Our vehicle had a Palfinger lift crane attached to the rear so we could get a pick-up point that was level and not have to worry about the unit getting away from us on the uneven street."
The video makes it look easy, but the project was challenging. The weather was hotter than usual, floor protection had to be used throughout the building, and the turns were tight getting into the bunker.
As you watch the program, note that the video was produced by the practice. At the beginning of the program you'll see Kathy Fletcher, Chief Radiation Therapist (to the right), along with her assistant. The film ends with Aussie singer Kylie Minogue, who at the time had just announced she had cancer and had to cancel her Australian concerts.
"I always get a great sense of personal achievement when working in oncology departments as I know I have in some way been part of contributing to the life of a cancer patient whether they will gain additional years of quality life, or have their cancer cured by these machines that we deliver," Turner said. He added about Central Coast in particular, "This practice was special to me, more than others; this is where my late father was treated for his cancer."
