46 | FEBRUARY 23 • 2023
I
n 2017, Henry Ford Health
became the first-in-the-
world to implement a
ViewRay MRIdian Linac — an
MRI-guided radiation system
that transforms the way radi-
ation oncologists treat their
patients. It became the first
health system to procure a sec-
ond machine in 2021 and has
become an international leader
in the field of MRI-guided
radiation.
About five years since it
received its first machine,
“we have treated hundreds of
patients with this very focused
MRI-guided radiation,” said
Dr. Benjamin Movsas, chair of
radiation oncology and med-
ical director of Henry Ford
Health-Cancer (HFH-C) and a
member of Shomrey Emunah
in Southfield. “We’ve been
able to do this across so many
different areas, whether it be
pancreas cancer, liver cancer,
lung, prostate or brain tumors
— almost from head to toe.”
As the experts on this tech-
nology that is transforming the
way cancer is treated, HFH-C
has trained more than 400
doctors across the globe in this
approach, including for ste-
reotactic (focused) radiation.
Recently, three different groups
of doctors from Israel decided
independently they wanted to
come to Henry Ford Hospital
to learn about this technology.
“Henry Ford Hospital has
had an ongoing relationship
with Israel for many years,”
Movsas said. “Often we’re
the ones going there. So it’s
wonderful to see doctors from
Israel coming here.”
Last month, doctors from
the Shaare Zedek Cancer
Center in Jerusalem, the
Sharett Institute of Oncology
at the Hadassah University
Hospital in Jerusalem and the
Sheba Medical Center in Tel
Aviv came to learn more about
the technology and how it
could help their patients and
see it in action.
Currently, Israel is home to
only one ViewRay MRIdian
Linac MRI-guided radiation
system, and these doctors from
Israel were evaluating the pos-
sibility of bringing this novel
technology to their own medi-
cal centers.
“
As a radiation oncologist
in the field now for about 25
years, so much has advanced
in our field,” Movsas said. “But
to host specialists from Israel
who are used to very advanced
technologies — and to literally
see their jaws drop when they
witnessed what this special
radiation unit can do is very
special. They definitely were
very impressed.”
WHAT IS ADAPTIVE
RADIATION?
To understand the impact
of this technology, first it’s
important to understand
the way traditional radia-
tion oncology usually works.
Doctors typically take a CAT
scan of the patient — basically
a snapshot — and map out a
treatment of radiation. The
challenge is that internal organs
can move in the time between
when the snapshot was taken
and when the patient receives
radiation, as well as during the
radiation treatment itself.
With adaptive radiation, the
MRI stays on the whole time
during treatment so the radi-
ation oncologist can literally
see in real-time how the target
and nearby organs are moving.
Because of that, doctors are
able to use smaller margins to
minimize the risk of irradiating
nearby healthy tissues.
“I recently treated a patient
with only a 2-3-millimeter
margin — about one 10th of
an inch,” Movsas said. “
As soon
as the target, which was in this
patient’s lung, moved as the
patient breathed, the machine
automatically paused the radi-
ation beam on its own and
waited for the target to move
back in position. Therefore, the
target received the full dose of
radiation, and no normal lung
tissue was unnecessarily irra-
diated.”
That alone would be enough
to make an MRI-guided unit
really attractive, Movsas added,
but what’s more, doctors are
able to adapt or adjust their
plans in real time. “What this
Sharing Knowledge
HEALTH
Experts in MRI-guided radiation oncology at
Henry Ford Health host delegations from Israel.
JACKIE HEADAPOHL EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
Dr. Ben Movsas,
left, with Dr. Aron
Popovtser, head of
the Sharett Institute
of Oncology at
the Hadassah
University Hospital
in Jerusalem.
COURTESY OF HENRY FORD