About Heartland Cancer Center's Technology

The Heartland Cancer Center offers state-of-the-art equipment. We are treating cancer patients with a revolutionary new radiotherapy technique called SmartBeam IMRT (Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy), a highly precise technique that targets tumors while sparing surrounding healthy tissue. We have the potential to substantially improve both patient comfort and cure rates by protecting healthy tissue while delivering higher doses to the tumor. IMRT uses powerful computerized technologies that  make it possible to deliver exact medical doses with laser-like precision.  This latest treatment technology gives the patient the greatest opportunity for a cure. In addition, increased precision enables clinicians to use radiation to treat areas that would have been considered too risky until now.

These treatments are delivered using a sophisticated computer-controlled medical linear accelerator that is outfitted with an important beam shaping accessory called a multi-leaf collimator. HCC's multi-leaf collimator has 120 computer-controlled mechanical "leaves" or "fingers" that shape and size the beam to deliver an exact dose directly to the tumor. Less than 7% of the world's cancer centers' offer this capability.