RaySearch Laboratories AB has signed a consulting agreement with the Uppsala University Hospital in Sweden, covering the development of a new treatment planning system for proton radiation therapy delivered at the The Svedberg Laboratory in Uppsala. The system is planned be used clinically during 2008 and will replace an outdated system for all patient treatments. The University Hospital treats more than 100 cancer patients annually with proton therapy.
“To capitalize on the advantages with proton therapy, which is more precise than conventional radiation therapy, a reliable and accurate dose calculation is of extra importance. This will be provided by this system from RaySearch,” says Ulf Isacsson, responsible for radiation therapy at the Hospital Physics department of the University Hospital.
“We know that RaySearch has a fast development process in which we can be actively involved so we will get a modern user-friendly system that is fully integrated into our existing routines for radiation therapy,” concludes Ulf Isacsson.
Johan Löf, President of RaySearch, adds: “We are extremely proud to have the University Hospital as a partner. They have exceptionally long clinical experience and were first in the world to treat cancer tumors with protons. The agreement has no direct financial impact on RaySearch, but it is of high strategic importance that our proton system will now be used clinically for the first time.”
Proton therapy is one of RaySearch’s prioritized development areas and the company demonstrated its solutions earlier this year at the international PTCOG (Particle Therapy Cooperative Group) meeting, which was held in Jacksonville, Florida.