PIONEERING technology funded by two local charities is improving the treatment of 1,200 patients a year in the North-east of Scotland.
Friends of ANCHOR and NHS Grampian Endowment Fund jointly backed the purchase of state-of-the-art software and a high-end computer server, at a total cost of £54,050 to be used at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
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Dr John McLellan, Head of Radiotherapy Physics at ARI, is at the helm of a team of clinical professionals who are using the upgraded software, which is called ProSoma Core – a new, highly effective add-on to the standard software, ProSoma, which was funded by Friends of ANCHOR in 2006.
Dr McLellan said the tool would allow for faster treatment planning and more accuracy.
He said: “There’s a huge amount of computer work involved to determine where the beams of radiation should be positioned for patients who require complex radiotherapy treatment for their cancer. A single plan for one patient could take eight hours to create and relies on some significant computing power.
“ProSoma Core uses a sophisticated computer algorithm to create a ‘map’ of the radiation intensity that will be delivered throughout an individual patient’s body, as part of the planning process for their complex radiotherapy treatment.
“This information is essential for the optimal design of their individualised treatment and for independent verification of the radiation dose required. In short, it allows us to accurately target the treatment to certain areas of tumour for maximum effect, while protecting surrounding healthy tissue from radiation damage.”
The software is now used in every case of advanced radiotherapy treated at ARI, which translates to 1,200 patients a year.
It is not the first time the department has benefitted from substantial tech funding. The existing ProSoma software, of which the ‘Core’ version is an upgrade, was also funded by Friends of ANCHOR in 2006, and is still in use 13 years later. In 2017, Friends of ANCHOR funded a film dosimetry system that was an important tool in the implementation of SABR for lung tumours.
Jim Milne, Friends of ANCHOR chairman said: “The radiotherapy department in Aberdeen is constantly leading the way in new technology that will bring significant benefit to the patients and the teams treating them.”
