UK-first technology used for brain tumour patients

The electromagnetic coil cost £115,000

Hundreds of brain tumour patients will become the UK's first to benefit from a new way of carrying out MRI scans to plan specialist radiotherapy treatment.

The technology will lead to quicker MRI scans and more precise and targeted radiotherapy, Oxford University Hospitals (OUH) NHS Foundation Trust said.

Oxford Hospitals Charity has funded the new equipment, which cost £115,000, at the Churchill Hospital.

Graham Best, from Aylesbury, said he was "very honoured and excited" to be the first patient in the country to receive the new treatment.

"From everything I've heard it's a real step forward, so it's absolutely marvellous," the 67-year-old grandfather of five said.

He became the first patient to have his scans done with the new technology ahead of his radiotherapy treatment for a non-cancerous tumour in April.

"I was initially very nervous when I learned I needed radiotherapy, it's a big scary word, but the team at the Churchill have been great," he said.

Graham Best was the first person to receive the new treatment, which Rhona Watson said provided "pinpoint accuracy"

The new equipment is a flexible electromagnetic coil, which ensures patients' heads can be kept in the same place during both CT and MRI scans.

Previously, the two images created by CT and MRI scans were different due to the positions of the head, and had to be manually overlaid to provide a single image to plan treatment.

With use of the new coil, the images can now be lined up without the need for manual adjustment.

It enables more precise treatment and saves valuable time for staff and would benefit about 250 patients a year, OUH said.

Rhona Watson, a consultant therapeutic radiographer at OUH, said the new piece of equipment would enable "pinpoint accuracy" during radiotherapy.

"The benefits are multiple – most significantly, the quality and precision of the images is greater, because they align better and the new coil fits more snugly to the face," she added.