WVSEC is installing a new linear accelerator that will have IMRT capabilities. It is the only unit with this capability in Canada, and one of only a few veterinary units with this ability in all of North America. IMRT works by linking a 3 dimensional radiation planning workstation to a collimator that is computer controlled. Rather than just moving in an x–y direction, an IMRT collimator has multiple leaves that can move independently of each other, called a dynamic multileaf collimator (dMLC). This type of collimator allows the computer and linear accelerator to create highly complex shapes that conform to the tumor outline, while sparing normal tissue.
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