Grosse Pointe Facility Adds New MRI-Based Cancer Therapy

Henry Ford Health System has added a new cancer therapy system that allows magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to direct cancer treatment in real time.

According to Crain’s Detroit Business, Henry Ford began using the MRIdian Linac, a $10 million treatment option that includes its own specially-designed MRI, at Henry Ford Medical Center-Cottage in Grosse Pointe Farms. With this technology, doctors can use the MRI and linear accelerator delivery to give very precise doses of radiation, making treatment more accurate. The system also cuts treatment times down from as much as three hours for traditional radiation to 45 minutes in some cases.

Doctors can also ask patients to hold their breath to help them visualize anatomy better, which allows them to treat cancers that are much harder to manage traditionally because the organs they affect move around inside the body. The MRI allows doctors to see movement, and wait til they can see tumors clearly and target the radiation. The system also cuts treatment regimens, which usually last three or four weeks, down to as little as five days. Doctors at Henry Ford say the treatment doesn’t cost more than typical radiation therapies, and is covered by health insurance.

Read full coverage of this story in Crain’s Detroit Business.

Photo via Henry Ford Health System.