Criteria and standards, for megavoltage radiation therapy installations

Technical Report · Sat Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1977

OSTI ID:6333439

This paper is an outline of facts to be studied when planning the installation of megavoltage therapy equipment -- e.g. linear accelerators, cobalt-60 units, betatrons, Van de Graaf generators, etc. To justify purchase, each proponent institution should treat 300 to 400 new patients per year and perform 25 to 35 treatments per day unit of equipment. In addition, the personnel using the equipment should consist of a board-certified radiation therapist or general radiologist with special training in megavoltage radiation; board-certified eligible physicians in nuclear medicine, hematology with expertise in chemotherapy and immunotherapy, and endocrinology; and trained radiotherapy technicians. Before purchasing a new unit, applicants should present the number of current out-referrals for radiation therapy, the average number of treatments per day, hours per day of operation of existing equipment, the average number of patients on the waiting list and the impact of the new unit on utilization of existing equipment. Also to be considered are: total capital expenditures for the installation of a megavoltage unit, sources of funding or terms of leases, an estimate of the cash value of the equipment based on a 5 year projection of revenue and expenses associated with the unit and the expected useful life of the equipment.

• Research Organization: Southern Piedmont Health Systems Agency, Inc., Charlotte, NC (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6333439
• Report Number(s): HRP-0018641
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

550603* -- Medicine-- External Radiation in Therapy-- (1980-)
62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE
ACCELERATORS
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
COBALT 60
COBALT ISOTOPES
ECONOMICS
EDUCATION
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
GAMMA RADIATION
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
INTERNAL CONVERSION RADIOISOTOPES
IONIZING RADIATIONS
ISOMERIC TRANSITION ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
MEDICAL CENTERS
MEDICAL PERSONNEL
MEDICINE
MINUTES LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
NUCLEAR MEDICINE
NUCLEI
ODD-ODD NUCLEI
PERSONNEL
PLANNING
PROFESSIONAL PERSONNEL
RADIATIONS
RADIOISOTOPES
RADIOLOGICAL PERSONNEL
RADIOLOGY
RADIOTHERAPY
THERAPY
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES