By Bob Norris, The Daily Times
Even as ProNova Solutions constructs a $52 million corporate headquarters and research and commercialization laboratory at Pellissippi Place in Blount County, the company is reaching out to Europe to advance its cancer-treatment technology.
ProNova Solutions and medPhoton, an Austrian startup company, have agreed to form an exclusive partnership that will merge leading-edge pencil-beam IMPT and innovative integrated imaging into a next generation offering for the proton therapy market to treat cancer, the companies said in a joint announcement Saturday.
“Together we feel that this unique solution will enable clinicians to develop advanced proton therapy protocols for adaptive therapy,” the statement said.
ProNova will integrate the medPhoton ImagingRing system into the SC360 proton therapy solution, which will be developed at its Alcoa location. The resulting system will include Fast Scanning IMPT (intensity modulated proton therapy) technology with integrated 3D imaging.
This unique solution merges leading-edge pencil-beam delivery, innovative dual-energy 3D imaging capability and precision positioning to aid physicians and therapists in minimizing collateral damage to healthy tissue and maximizing dose to the tumor, according to the companies.
The ProNova compact superconducting gantry design allows for 360 degrees of patient treatment angle and improved workflow, resulting in faster treatment times and higher productivity.
“ProNova is proud to partner with an innovative company like medPhoton,” said Joe Matteo, division president of ProNova Solutions, R&D and manufacturing. “Together we feel that this unique solution will enable clinicians to develop advanced proton therapy protocols for Adaptive Therapy.”
medPhoton´s newly developed ImagingRing system is a slim, couch-based, in-room CBCT device, capable of large field of view, low-dose, single-source dual energy 3D volumetric and 2D planar image acquisitions. It supports smooth workflows and highest precision in inter- and intrafractional image-guided radiotherapy.
“medPhoton is glad that our hard research and development work over the last years will now have a real impact on the field. After having installed our first unit at the carbon beam facility MedAustron, we will now integrate our slim imaging ring system with ProNova’s cutting edge small footprint proton therapy equipment,” said Heinz Deutschmann, chief executive officer and founder of medPhoton, a spin-off of the radART institute of the Paracelsus Medical University in Salzburg.
“In combination of both systems, precise beam adaptation and tracking of moving targets will be possible in the near future. A series of joint installations, research and clinical, has been ordered.”
The new ProNova SC360 system will be on display in booth No. 637 at ASTRO’s (American Society for Therapeutic Radiology) 56th annual meeting being held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco today through Wednesday. This year’s meeting will highlight many of the advances in proton therapy, including the need for continued innovation in imaging capability and positioning accuracy.
About proton therapy
Proton therapy is an advanced form of radiation therapy that uses a single beam of high-energy protons to treat various forms of cancer. Just as with conventional radiation therapy, proton treats tumors by directing radiation into the tumor site where doses of radiation destroy cancerous cells.
However, unlike conventional radiation therapy, in which X-ray beams deposit their energy into the healthy tissue before and after the tumor site, physicians can control the timing and dosage of energy from protons, which allows the maximum energy deposited directly into the tumor, reducing damage to nearby healthy tissue and thus limiting negative side effects.
Terry Douglass is the chairman of the board of directors and chief executive officer of ProNova Solutions. He is also the chairman of the $115 million Provision Center for Proton Therapy, which held its grand opening in May at Dowell Springs Business Park in Knoxville.