Unique works of art created by blasting Perspex blocks with radiation from a decommissioned linear accelerator, will be used to raise money for cancer therapy services at Cairns Hospital.
The Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service (CHHHS) and Icon have installed a new $4 million linear accelerator at Icon’s radiation oncology centre located in the Liz Plummer Cancer Care Centre.
The second new Varian Truebeam linear accelerator has replaced an ageing radiation therapy machine, with more technologically advanced equipment to provide both greater capability to our Cairns radiation therapy service and greater capacity to care for more patients.
CHHHS Chief Executive Leena Singh said the decommissioning of the old machine presented the Health Service with a rare opportunity to create unique artwork: ‘electron trees.’
‘When a linear accelerator is decommissioned, there is a limited possibility of creating Lichtenberg figures – also known as electron trees,’ Ms Singh said.
‘By bombarding Perspex blocks with radiation, we can create these incredible 3D figures of fractal lightning patterns.
‘This is a complex process that requires the assistance of an experienced engineer and medical physicist to help us make slight modifications to the linear accelerator before we ultimately remove the machine from the centre.’
Icon Cancer Care Centre’s site manager Brock Ditton described the process of creating the Lichtenberg figures as a fitting final act for the decommissioned linear accelerator, which had been in operation at the centre since 2011.
‘Once we create these artworks, the linear accelerator can never be used again due to the irreversible change in hardware configurations running it outside of its design,’ he said.
‘We thought before we retire Delta, the second of our original machines which have delivered over 170,000 treatments, this would be a beautiful opportunity to create something spectacular, while in the process helping raise money for Cairns Hospital’s Cancer Care Hub.
‘Half of the figures produced will be donated to the Far North Queensland Hospital Foundation to assist with their fundraising efforts, while the rest will be offered to staff for purchase who have been delivering exceptional care on ‘Delta’, our linear accelerator, for the past decade.’
The Liz Plummer Cancer Care Centre now has two state-of-the-art linear accelerators, the first which was installed in September 2022.
Each machine is equipped with surface-guided radiation therapy, to help ensure accurate treatment delivery and the ability to deliver tattoo-free care.
Daily treatments for patients take no longer than 15 minutes, giving the centre capacity to deliver 18,000 radiation therapy treatments annually to cancer patients.
This allows more patients to be treated in Cairns, reducing the need to travel away from home for treatments in Townsville, Brisbane or further afield.