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New delivery system for radiation therapy with more control over beam
Invention 16072
New delivery system for radiation therapy with more control over beam
A radiation delivery system called IMBrachy to control the beam and minimize damage to healthy tissue has been developed at ۲ݮƵ University.
Market Need
Localized radiation with external beam therapy has improved the dose distribution to minimize risk to healthy organs and to more closely match the shape of the tumor compared to traditional treatment. However, excessive doses to surrounding tissue are still caused depending on the location of the tumor within the organ or errors in treatment such as incorrect patient positioning/movement. The ability to control damage to surrounding tissue with traditional brachytherapy is therefore limited because of the proximity to radiation sensitive healthy organs and lack of moveable controls.
Technology Summary
In this invention, a technique called intensity modulated brachytherapy (IMBT) was improved to dynamically direct the radiation into the tumors and away from healthy tissues. This new technology, IMBrachy, uses the IMBT technique to control the rotation of the radiation beams through a series of moving panels with an interlocking system. Each series of panels can be connected to a separate motor handling the rotation. The shielded needles are connected to the rotating mechanism through flexible leurs that will give the radiation oncologist the opportunity to implant the needles at a better angle if needed.
Advantages
- Localized control of radiation beams minimizes damage to surrounding tissue
- Ability to change the angle of needle entry if needed
- Small, portable system that can be connected to any commercial afterloader system
- Flexibility of system: for prostate cancer the template was modified to a hexagonal shape to allow the radiation oncologist to optimize needle placement
Patent Status
Filed US, EP