University Hospitals Case Medical Center has offered Intraoperative Electron Radiation Therapy (IOERT) since 1999. Surgeons and Radiation Oncologists are able deliver a high dose of electron radiation to the tumor site right in the operating room.
Unlike other facilities that transport patients from the operating room to the radiation oncology department for IOERT, UH Case Medical Center utilizes a mobile electron beam accelerator, the Mobetron, to treat patients in the operating room. The ability to treat the patient without having to move them throughout the hospital saves time, reduces the amount of anesthesia required, and lessens the threat of infection.
The second unit of its kind in the United States, the UH Case Medical Center Mobetron is used to treat cancers of the stomach, cervix, head and neck, recurrent breast, bladder, pancreas, colon, rectum and sarcomas during the surgical procedure.