Nine-foot-thick slabs of concrete surround a typical radiation room used for cancer radiation treatments. The room contains a linear accelerator (radiation machine) that weighs eight tons and rotates around the patient like a robot. And the $27,000 door weighs 3,000 pounds.
That door closes electronically, and when it does, patients say the sound makes them feel like they're being entombed.
Tewfik Bichay, PhD, a medical physicist at The Lacks Cancer Center at Saint Mary's Health Care in Grand Rapids has changed all that.
Dr. Bichay invented a doorless entry for radiation rooms, and, with the help of the West Michigan Science and Technology Initiative, he recently received a US patent for it.
"I've never thought about patenting anything," Dr. Bichay says. "I asked, 'How do we make treatment more comfortable for the patient?' and I sat down and started drawing."
The entryway creates a "Z" shaped, six-foot-wide open hallway made of a material containing concrete, plastic, and lead that absorbs radiation easily. Neutrons from radiation fallout stick to certain plastics, so as the radiation travels down the "Z," it hits the walls, the angles, sticks to the plastic, and is absorbed.
Patients say that openness of the hallway and entryway makes them feel connected to their technicians and caregivers—and that creates a more comforting experience.
The doorless entry is in use in the three radiation rooms at Lacks, where it saved an estimated $50,000 per room in construction costs.
The patent will be licensed on a nonexclusive basis so other hospitals and radiation facilities can benefit from the invention.
Source: Tewfik Bichay, Saint Mary's Health Care
Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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