RaySearch Laboratories AB (publ) and Scanditronix-Wellhöfer are entering into cooperation involving new products for quality assurance of IMRT (Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy). The companies have signed a long-term development and license agreement that will result in four new products for quality assurance of IMRT. RaySearch is a world leader in treatment planning for IMRT and in advanced software applications for radiation therapy of cancer. Scanditronix-Wellhöfer is a world leader in advanced dosimetry and quality assurance solutions for clinical and industrial applications of radiation physics. RaySearch will receive royalties and other payments in euro for the new products, which further reduces the company’s exposure to the US dollar.
“It is very pleasing that we can now initiate cooperation with the leading player on the market for dosimetry equipment,” says Johan Löf, President and CEO of RaySearch Laboratories AB. “Currently, there is a great need in the clinics for new solutions in this area, since quality assurance demands substantial personnel resources. The cooperation will permit us to create effective and highly competitive systems for automated quality assurance. Scanditronix-Wellhöfer is in the absolute forefront of detector technology and has a large installed base within a market segment to which we previously did not have access. Consequently, it is a highly suitable partner for us and the agreement means a natural and exciting expansion of RaySearch’s product portfolio. The goal is to develop four entirely new products, with the first expected to be on the market within about one year.” “When it is about the continuous improvement of cancer treatment there is no time to waste,” comments Rob Plompen, President and CEO of Scanditronix-Wellhöfer. “The advanced dosimetry solutions that both companies will jointly develop will significantly increase the dosimetric accuracy before and during IMRT patient treatment. The specific competence in dose calculation and optimization algorithms makes RaySearch the ideal partner for us in bringing this new leading-edge technology to the market. RaySearch have a proven track record in the efficient development of highly advanced radiation therapy software applications. We are therefore very pleased and confident with the signed development agreement between our companies.” IMRT is an advanced method for radiation therapy of cancer. IMRT allows higher radiation doses to be delivered to the tumor than what is possible with a conventional treatment, and at the same time reduces the risk for side effects in surrounding healthy tissue. Since IMRT treatments are complex in nature, thorough quality assurance is required to minimize deviations between the planned radiation dose distribution and the dose that is actually delivered to the patient. In the quality assurance procedure, the treatment beams’ true intensity distributions are measured against the intensity distributions calculated in the treatment planning system to determine if deviations are within the defined tolerance levels. Currently, this is a highly time- and resource-consuming task for the radiation therapy clinics. Within the framework of the cooperation with Scanditronix-Wellhöfer, RaySearch will develop advanced software that supports and improves the efficiency of quality assurance of IMRT. Scanditronix-Wellhöfer will further develop its dosimetry platform to facilitate in a more refined manner the determination of the beam’s physical properties and to achieve more rapid and accurate measurements. By combining RaySearch’s dose calculation algorithms and visualization framework with Scanditronix-Wellhöfer’s dosimetry competence and innovative detector technology and software, an effective and user-friendly tool is created for automated quality assurance of advanced radiation therapy.