A team of ENEA researchers has developed an innovative prototype capable of treating breast cancer with more effective and less invasive radiotherapy applications. The innovation, called ProBREAST, is able to limit collateral damage as much as possible while safeguarding healthy tissues and was made known today on the occasion of the international campaign against breast cancer, established by the World Health Organization to raise awareness of the importance of prevention.
The prototype was created by researchers at the ENEA Particle Accelerators and Laboratory medical applications of the Frascati Research Center and has as its main feature the treatment of breast cancer with the patient in a prone position, rather than supine, in order to spare the surrounding healthy tissues, such as the lungs and heart. Compared to traditional systems, the prototype stands out not only for the quality and effectiveness of the radiation, but also for its less invasive nature as it is a system designed to minimize the shielding requirements of the treatment room. These characteristics make it particularly suitable for radiotherapy departments, with benefits in terms of overall costs, times and reduction of waiting lists.
ProBREAST is ready for a subsequent phase of engineering and marketing by the industry: it consists of a table provided with a circular opening through which the target (breast) is exposed under which a rotating photon source consisting of a small linear accelerator of electrons of energy 3 MeV (millions of electron Volts) followed by an electron-X converter, all mounted on a rotating structure. The apparatus is shielded thanks to a particular protective lead "jacket" designed to contain radiation diffused into the environment. For the characterization of the radiation produced by the source, ENEA made use of the collaboration of the IFO-IRE oncology hospital in Rome.
“Our objective as a research body is to 'seek innovation' by introducing new technologies and strengthening dialogue with companies”, underlines Concetta Ronsivalle, head of the ENEA laboratory for particle accelerators and medical applications. “Our laboratory is open to collaboration with the productive world starting from the transfer of technology and know-how to build an alliance with companies, encourage open innovation processes and create progress and well-being, the final objective of the TECHEA infrastructure that we are building at ENEA in Frascati”.
The ProBREAST prototype was created as part of the TECHEA (TECHnology for HEAlth) Project conducted by the ENEA Division of Physical Technologies for Safety and Health, aimed at creating and networking a technological infrastructure for development, validation and launch of commercialization of system prototypes, based on physical technologies, for applications aimed at protecting health. The activity is carried out in collaboration with industrial "end users" interested in the subsequent marketing of more mature prototypes.
In addition to compact accelerators for radiotherapy, ENEA also makes available to industry transportable laser spectroscopic sensors for in situ applications in the food sector, wearable fiber optic sensors for monitoring patients during nuclear diagnostics or radiotherapy, radiation detectors for Dosimetry based on lithium fluoride crystals and films.
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