From the March 2022 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine

"Our system would be about half the size of conventional proton therapy systems. The height, in particular, is expected to be reduced to 4 meters from the previous 10 meters. In addition to being inexpensive, our system does not require the construction of a dedicated building, which leads to cost reductions when it is installed," Takuji Furukawa, president and CEO of B dot Medical, told HCB News.

The proton beam bending technology is accelerated to more than 70% the speed of light, inside a superconducting magnet with a high magnetic field. The technology enables the proton beam to converge to a single point no matter where it enters the magnet.


The researchers next plan to perform a pattern operation test to quickly control the strong magnetic field generated by the superconducting magnet. They will then perform a proton beam test before applying for Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Act approval in Japan.

"We believe that by making our system smaller and less expensive, installing a proton therapy system will be easier and hospitals that have been using X-ray therapy will be able to provide proton therapy," said Furukawa. "This will allow more cancer patients to choose proton therapy, which is currently available only to a limited number of patients."

Prototype in the works for incorporating real-time MR imaging for proton therapy
German researchers are building what they say is the first prototype of a proton therapy system capable of tracking moving tumors with MR imaging, potentially paving the way for better targeted treatment.

"Real-time magnetic resonance imaging has the unique ability to provide excellent soft-tissue contrast in addition to fast imaging that captures organ motion," Dr. Aswin Hoffmann, research group leader of experimental MR-integrated Proton Therapy, Institute of Radiooncology – OncoRay, told HCB News last April. "Typical examples are cancers that could benefit are those of the liver, pancreas, oesophagus, rectum, kidney, adrenal and cervix."

To see if real-time imaging could synchronize the proton beam to tumor motion, the researchers combined a rotating, open low-field 0.22 Tesla MR scanner designed by ASG Superconductors for the LINAC-MR system from Alberta Health Services, with an actively scanned proton beam at OncoRay. The results showed strong MR image quality during irradiation with a static beam.

At some point, Hoffmann plans to build a prototype that may be used clinically. ASG Superconductors will produce the mid-field-strength open 0.5 Tesla MR device, which will be specifically adapted to the requirements of real-time MR-guided radiation therapy by the Alberta Health Services LINAC-MR group and its spin-off company MagnetTx Oncology Solutions.

March 2022 Magazine

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