Proton therapy systems are exceedingly difficult to develop. While currently dominated by European and Japanese manufacturers, like the Belgian company IBA, German ACCEL Instruments, and Hitachi of Japan, US proton therapy developers are making great strides. Enter ProTom International, a Texas-based company, which just announced collaborative agreement with MIT’s Bates Linear Accelerator Center “for the testing and calibration of an advanced proton synchrotron technology for cancer treatment.”
The company believes that its system will be a “next generation” proton therapy device, based on the following technology:
ProTom International holds the U.S. exclusive rights for a proton therapy technology system developed at the Lebedev Physics Institute. This new disruptive technology will allow community based health care providers the opportunity to add proton therapy in their continuum of cancer treatment options.
Over twenty years has been dedicated to the development of the proton therapy system by some of the world’s leading physicists, engineers, programmers and machinists. Currently, twenty-four patents have been filed reflecting the advancements of this system. The combination of unique features of this proton therapy system makes it the Next Generation in Proton Therapy.
- True pencil beam treatment scanning, resulting in three dimensional Intensity Modulation Proton Therapy (IMPT). This breakthrough eliminates the need for customized collimators and compensators and improves patient throughput.
- Compact design without sacrificing intensity (energy) or dose rate
– Fully variable beam energy of 30-330 MeV ± 0.15%
– Synchrotron external ring diameter of less than 16 feet, with total weight approximately 15 tons- Reduced capital and operating costs
To read more about the company’s proprietary proton therapy technology go here…
Press release: PROTON THERAPY COLLABORATION BETWEEN MIT AND PROTOM…
MIT press release: Bates researchers eye proton therapy for cancer…
Flashbacks: The Physics of Proton Therapy; In the Works: Compact, Low-cost Proton Therapy System; Activate the Proton Beam