Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center and Elekta, a leader in the development of precision radiation therapy technologies, recently expanded its longstanding partnership. Through this collaboration, the Mary Bird Perkins radiation oncology treatment team will have broader access to Elekta’s emerging and breakthrough radiation therapy technologies, benefiting patients throughout the organization’s extensive network across Louisiana and southwest Mississippi.
As part of the collaboration, Mary Bird Perkins’ radiation oncologists and scientists are instrumental in working to enhance Elekta’s technology through expert, on-the-ground experience, including the medical physics partnership with Louisiana State University’s School of Physics and Astronomy.
Earlier this month, Mary Bird Perkins hosted Elekta’s North America Elekta Unity Users Meeting. Medical physicists, radiation therapists, radiation oncologists, and other radiation therapy professionals from around the United States and the world toured the Cancer Center’s facility on Essen Lane and learned about the innovative cancer care offered at the organization’s headquarters on Essen Lane. This meeting was the first of many working group meetings that will take place at the Cancer Center over the coming years.
Some of this technology includes:
Elekta Versa HD: Mary Bird Perkins was among the first ten facilities in the country to offer the technology, which enabled the Cancer Center to significantly reduce treatment times, increase the number of patients treated daily, and reduce the number of treatments.
Elekta Harmony: In November 2024, Mary Bird Perkins became the first facility in the U.S. to treat patients with Elekta Harmony. Since then, the linear accelerator has enabled the Cancer Center to accommodate up to 10 more patients a day, reduce wait times, and maintain treatment precision.
Elekta Unity: The cornerstone of Mary Bird Perkins’ adaptive MRI-guided radiation therapy program, Elekta Unity combines the imaging capabilities of a high-field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system with a linear accelerator, allowing the radiotherapy care team to see tumors and surrounding anatomy before and in real-time during treatment. The technology has already allowed for more personalized care for more than 100 patients at the Cancer Center.