Descrizione del progetto
Soluzione software conveniente per la terapia con particelle
Un paziente oncologico su quattro riceve la radioterapia nell’ambito del proprio regime di trattamento. La terapia con particelle utilizza particelle cariche come i protoni anziché i raggi X per irradiare il tumore. Sebbene la terapia con particelle sia più mirata e meno dannosa per i tessuti normali circostanti, l’elevato costo del trattamento ne ha impedito la diffusione. Per affrontare questa sfida, il progetto C-TCS, finanziato dall’UE, promuove un software per il sistema di controllo del trattamento che sincronizza il funzionamento dei dispositivi nei centri deputati alla terapia con particelle. A differenza delle soluzioni finora disponibili, il software C-TCS è universale e può essere implementato da diversi fornitori, evitando la necessità di software specializzati che sono associati a costi elevati.
Obiettivo
Cancer is one of the leading causes of death nowadays; 1 in every 2 men and 1 in every 3 women will be diagnosed with cancer at some point of their lives. The number of cancer incidences is growing by 2.4% annually, which puts a financial burden on healthcare systems globally. Particle therapy – PT (proton/neutron/positive ion therapy) has been proven to be effective and a safer alternative to other types of external beam radiotherapy as the charged particle dose is delivered in a narrow range and there is minimal damage to surrounding tissue. In 2015, among all patients that were treated for cancer worldwide, 25% were treated using some sort of radiation. However, building PT centres is very costly (>100M €) which has been a crucial factor in the slow adoption of PT facilities. This is likely to change due to introduction to lower cost/compact systems, and, more importantly, growing clinical evidence regarding its efficacy. A critical part of a PT centre is its treatment control system (TCS), the software that synchronizes the operation of all the devices. Currently, PT centre equipment vendors each custom develop their own TCS, which works only with their own equipment, is of limited configurability, closed to adjustments and expensive. Cosylab is a Slovenian company specializing in the field of control systems for particle accelerators with 17 years of experience in the field. We are developing our TCS (C-TCS) as an off-the-shelf product, that is universally usable on all vendors´ (integrators or manufacturers´) equipment. Our solution is easily configurable, available without lead times, and costing 3-5x-less than custom development. Overall, the C-TCS provides better cancer treatment efficacy, lower production and maintenance cost of PT facility, higher throughput of patients (resulting in more people treated). In 5 years after completion of the project (2025) we expect to employ additional 20 people and achieve a ROI of 5.6.
Campo scientifico
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencessoftware
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringcontrol systems
- natural sciencesphysical sciencestheoretical physicsparticle physicsparticle accelerator
- medical and health sciencesclinical medicineoncology
Programma(i)
Argomento(i)
Invito a presentare proposte
Vedi altri progetti per questo bandoBando secondario
H2020-SMEInst-2018-2020-1
Meccanismo di finanziamento
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1Coordinatore
1000 Ljubljana
Slovenia
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