Start-Ups Reduce Radiation Exposure
This article was originally published in Start Up
Executive Summary
The use of cancer radiation therapy and interventional fluoroscopy is expanding rapidly, and start-ups are pioneering innovative technologies to capitalize on the industry-wide movement to reduce radiation exposure and improve outcomes. Profiles of ControlRad Systems, Nanovi, and SoniTrack Systems.
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ControlRad Systems Inc.
Cancer-causing radiation exposure isn't just a concern in radiation oncology; it’s also a concern in the millions of X-ray-based fluoroscopy procedures conducted each year during the performance of catheter-based diagnostic and therapeutic interventions. ControlRad Systems Inc. is working to dramatically reduce radiation dose and exposure during fluoroscopy without diminishing the image quality in the region of interest, workflow, or utility of existing X-ray systems.
SoniTrack Systems Inc.
SoniTrack Systems Inc. has integrated robotics and ultrasound to enable precision targeting for radiation therapy. The start-up says its add-on, noninvasive technology has the potential to increase local tumor control rates, reduce healthy tissue toxicity, and reduce overall treatment cost for hospitals; it is initially being evaluated for use in treating cancer in the liver and pancreas, two of the most challenging anatomies to treat with radiation therapy today due to their large motion range during patient breathing.
Nanovi APS
The unavailability of a good fiducial marker for pre-treatment image planning and subsequent image-guided radiotherapy is currently a major obstacle to enhancing radiotherapy standards. Copenhagen, Denmark-based start-up Nanovi APS has developed an injectable, liquid, biomaterials-based tissue marker that promises to improve accuracy in IGRT of several types of cancer, including lung cancer.