US-based medical devices manufacturer Varian Medical and Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) have collaborated to further advance the motion management techniques for proton therapy.
Focused on optimizing treatment strategies for cancer in the lung, liver, pancreas and breast, the agreement will assess strategies using the PSI-developed 4-D treatment planning simulator.
PSI professor Tony Lomax said, "This project will utilize 4-D motion data sets and dose calculations that can uniquely model patient motion variations that are difficult to capture with conventional data sets."
Proton therapy uses a controlled beam of protons to target tumors with higher levels of precision with less damage to the surrounding tissue.
Varian Medical Particle Therapy division general manager Moataz Karmalawy said, "This collaboration will support our customers in the fight against cancers that have not typically been treated with proton therapy in the past."
Switzerland-based PSI is a pioneer in the development of Intensity Modulated Proton Therapy (IMPT) techniques, and specializes in the treatment of pediatric patients.
