King Fahad Medical City in Riyadh is preparing to launch the first phase of the operation of the nuclear accelerator for the treatment of tumors in Proton, which was installed earlier this month in the city in cooperation with the Saudi Center for the treatment of particles, ranking the first in the Middle East.
The Chief Executive Officer of King Fahad Medical City, Dr. Mahmoud bin Abdul-Jabbar Al-Yamani, said in a press statement yesterday that the installation and operation of the nuclear accelerator is an extension of the Ministry of Health agreement to establish the National Center for the treatment of cancer on proton cancer in King Fahad Medical City, Which is financed by the private sector in order to serve the patient and achieve the aspirations of the citizen to receive advanced treatment and application of the strategy of health care in the Kingdom, and that the technology accelerator nuclear act to accelerate protons to the energy of 250 million electrons volt and then pray Directly on tumors to destroy cancer cells in high precision to maintain the healthy organs adjacent to the tumor, and works to transfer and localization of the treatment of proton one of the largest proton treatment projects at the global level, and is one of the first partnership projects between the private sector and the Ministry of Health, Relieving the patient and his companions when traveling to receive Proton radiotherapy in America or Germany. He added Yamani: The treatment Balbrooton of the latest treatment of tumors where they are accelerating the proton in a circular accelerator techniques (cyclotron), then sheds this beam on the location of the tumor to kill cancer cells and keeps the incident healthy cells Bjawaralorm and therefore this type of treatment reduces the usual complications of treatment Radiation therapy is used in the treatment of tumors. This type of radiation therapy is appropriate in cases of childhood cancer where maintaining healthy cells is a therapeutic priority while at the same time the doctor can use a high dose (higher than that which can be given) In the case of x-ray therapy).
On the components of the proton technology project, Dr. Mahmoud Yamani said that the project consists of a circular accelerator card 250 million electron volts, the beam is distributed from this accelerator to five rooms for radiation therapy one of these rooms was devoted to eye treatment and scientific research. He pointed out that the project since its inception over several stages have been initially work complete specifications for the accelerator and rooms and all the necessary equipment treatment, then these specifications announced in a public competition, then was chosen one of the global companies based on their conformity with the specifications of the project and its distinguished history in the field of radiation therapy, and began to prepare Engineering plans for the project building in coordination with the manufacturer of the equipment, and the agreement with one of the international companies to carry out the construction work of the project in partnership with a national company. He Yamani looking at the center building is completed and equipped to receive accelerated and all treatment devices, and termination of all hardware tests factory in Germany to be installed devices on 9 August where it was landing accelerated (cyclotron) inside the building and install it on its inside the King Fahad Medical City, while currently being installed The rest of the treatment devices, where it is expected, God willing, treat the first patient with this technique as soon as possible when completing the technical and medical requirements for the reception of patients.
For his part, Executive Director of Medical Affairs, Dr. Mushabab Asiri said: The project contributes to the localization of radiation therapy Balbrooton in Saudi Arabia and the region’s technology transfer and reduces the trouble of the patient when traveling and provides much of the cost of treatment abroad, as the cost of treating the patient in this center is less than the cost of treatment The patient abroad by more than half, explaining that it achieves the vision of the Kingdom 2030 e partnership between the private and public sectors.
It is worth mentioning that all the specifications of the equipment required for the project were prepared by a Saudi team of 100%. This team was composed of Saudi consultants with PhD in Physics and Radiation Therapy