Pre-clinical testing of glass bead dosimeters and related dose comparison software to enable safer hypofractionation to sustainably and quickly clear the radiotherapy treatment backlog caused by COVID-19.
Lead Participant:
TRUEINVIVO LIMITED
Abstract
**The extensive backlog in cancer treatment caused by COVID-19 is well documented. One solution in radiotherapy is to reduce the number of treatment sessions (called fractions) that a patient needs by increasing the strength of the delivered doses in each one, a technique called hypofractionation. For instance, a typical prostate treatment of 30 or 35 fractions could possibly be reduced to perhaps 15 or even 5 fractions .**
**Hypofractionation speeds up patient throughput (therefore reducing the backlog) but higher doses increase the risk of more extensive side effects and the potential of needing additional medical interventions possibly over years. Higher treatment accuracy and measurement is therefore needed.**
**Currently 10 to 25% of radiotherapy patients suffer potentially harmful side-effects or are failed by their treatment, often because there is no ability to measure directly (and with high accuracy) the radiation received in-body, to compare against the planned dose. The TRUEinvivo DOSEmapper technology enables the measurement of the actual radiation at the tumour and surrounding organs, quickly, cheaply and simply so that radiotherapy can be applied more accurately, safely and effectively.**
**The DoseMapper(tm) devices use strings of micro (1mm) glass beads as thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLD), inert, stable, low cost, easy to sterilise, with exceptional radiation dose response and visible on imaging systems for ease of position recognition. Because of these properties and their very small size they are ideal for use as a transient in-body in-vivo dosimeter. With dose levels evaluated in the first of a series of fractions, the clinician can then more informatively decide whether subsequent doses can be safely escalated, alternatively opting to make revisions to the dose delivery plan. The time for readout of a complete 100-bead DoseMapper is around 20** **minutes using our automated DOSEmapper Reader. Accordingly, results from the first fraction can be readily provided to the oncologist, certainly well in advance of subsequent fractions.**
**Hypofractionation speeds up patient throughput (therefore reducing the backlog) but higher doses increase the risk of more extensive side effects and the potential of needing additional medical interventions possibly over years. Higher treatment accuracy and measurement is therefore needed.**
**Currently 10 to 25% of radiotherapy patients suffer potentially harmful side-effects or are failed by their treatment, often because there is no ability to measure directly (and with high accuracy) the radiation received in-body, to compare against the planned dose. The TRUEinvivo DOSEmapper technology enables the measurement of the actual radiation at the tumour and surrounding organs, quickly, cheaply and simply so that radiotherapy can be applied more accurately, safely and effectively.**
**The DoseMapper(tm) devices use strings of micro (1mm) glass beads as thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLD), inert, stable, low cost, easy to sterilise, with exceptional radiation dose response and visible on imaging systems for ease of position recognition. Because of these properties and their very small size they are ideal for use as a transient in-body in-vivo dosimeter. With dose levels evaluated in the first of a series of fractions, the clinician can then more informatively decide whether subsequent doses can be safely escalated, alternatively opting to make revisions to the dose delivery plan. The time for readout of a complete 100-bead DoseMapper is around 20** **minutes using our automated DOSEmapper Reader. Accordingly, results from the first fraction can be readily provided to the oncologist, certainly well in advance of subsequent fractions.**
Lead Participant | Project Cost | Grant Offer |
|---|---|---|
| TRUEINVIVO LIMITED | £226,146 | £ 169,610 |
Participant |
||
| LANT MEDICAL LTD | ||
| INNOVATE UK |
People |
ORCID iD |
| Shakardokht Jafari (Project Manager) |