Thursday 6th October, 2022
KUTRRH officially received the much-awaited Cyberknife from Accuray Inc. The robotic radiosurgery equipment is the second in Africa after Egypt and marks a key milestone towards advanced robotic radiosurgery treatment in Kenya. The equipment is a valuable addition to the hospital’s cutting-edge capacity in cancer diagnosis and treatment. Besides cancerous tumor treatment, the Cyberknife can be used to treat a variety of non-cancerous tumors.
In her remarks during the receiving ceremony, KUTRRH Board Chairperson, Prof. Olive Mugenda thanked the Government of Kenya for its support in acquiring the Cyberknife. She noted that Kenyans need not travel abroad anymore for Cyberknife treatment hence saving immensely on cost and providing patients with ease of access to family support during their treatment.
In respect to cost of service, she noted that KUTRRH had carefully costed the service to ensure that it is affordable to Kenyans while at the same time ensuring sustainable operationalization of the facility. She further disclosed that the Cyberknife treatment will be fully covered by NHIF – a relief to many low- income families.
The new Cyberknife is a system that delivers non-invasive, robotic radiation therapy to cancerous and non-cancerous tumors. Owing to its precise treatment with sub-millimeter accuracy, is globally acclaimed as the best treatment for brain tumors, lung cancer, prostate cancer, meningiomas, vascular malfunctions, among others. It works by delivering high precision radiotherapy to sub-millimeter accuracies, incorporating its robotic arm and 3D computerized imaging technique to achieve this.
The cutting-edge treatment has a fully integrated planning system which enables the user to perform image fusion, dose and treatment efficiency optimization, dose calculation and plan evaluation. Furthermore, unlike traditional surgery, there is no excision, and the treatment is often delivered in a single session.
In his remarks during the ceremony, KUTRRH CEO, Mr. Ahmed Dagane celebrated the new equipment noting that there had already been numerous enquiries on availability of Cyberknife services at KUTRRH. He noted that even before the Hospital confirmed receipt of the Cyberknife, there has been a growing list of bookings for the procedures. Indeed, from the 34 confirmed bookings thus far, the number from his observation was likely to grow significantly in coming days with the confirmation of receipt of the Cyberknife.
To address would be incidences of long waiting periods, he further noted that the Hospital has put plans in place to commence at least 10 procedures a day immediately installation and commissioning is done and scale-up progressively. The move to introduce the new treatment at KUTRRH is part of the Hospital’s dedication to providing quality and affordable treatment to all. It will be a part of the Comprehensive Cancer Center which includes the new Breast Care Center of Excellence, Integrated Molecular Imaging Center, and the IMIC Hospitality Center, which offers accommodation for those travelling to KUTRRH for treatment.