The Proton Radiotherapy Verification and Dosimetry Applications (PRaVDA) project has developed what it's calling one of the most complex medical instruments ever imagined to improve proton therapy. Later this year they plan to demonstrate clinical quality proton CT images using the South African National Cyclotron.
"The uncertainties in where the protons lose their energy and do damage will only be eliminated by using the same type of radiation, protons, to image and to treat," said Dr. Nigel Allinson, lead researcher and Distinguished Professor of Image Engineering at the University of Lincoln in the U.K., in a statement.
His team has posted the following video which illustrates the use of protons for imaging within the human skull:
The PRaVDA team is composed of engineers and scientists, medical, high-energy and nuclear physicists and oncologists from the Universities of Birmingham, Lincoln, Liverpool and Surrey, the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust and the University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, and the iThemba Laboratories (Cape Town, South Africa).
According to their website, the silicon-based detector system PRaVDA will be the world’s first to allow in-situ monitoring of the incident dose in terms of its fluence, energy and distribution both prior and during treatment, and provide quality images during treatment as well as realize interactive proton CT, which they call the ultimate aspiration for radiotherapy.
"By delivering clinical quality Proton CT images, this project will greatly improve the treatment of cancer using proton therapy," said Allinson. He called it the most complex piece of engineering ever undertaken at the University of Lincoln.
The researchers give an example where a tumor 20cm deep inside a patient has an uncertainty of precision with protons around roughly 1.5cm; but they believe proton CT will help eliminate all errors in treating cancer with proton therapy.
