Linearbeam - Protons for Life’s Post

Meet our next 2024 Summer Scholar - Kimya Ghaffarian. Kimya will be researching the impact of radiotherapy on the health-related quality of life in people with metastatic cancer. Radiotherapy is an effective treatment for people with incurable cancer, especially for people suffering from debilitating symptoms like pain or bleeding. However, it is underutilised, largely due to a lack of awareness and misconceptions that it may worsen symptoms. While radiotherapy can significantly improve quality of life, there is currently no quality-of-life data on patients in Ireland receiving this treatment. This gap prevents healthcare providers from comparing outcomes to international standards and ensuring the treatment's effectiveness. One challenge in collecting this data is the burden on patients, who are often near the end of life, to return to the hospital for additional appointments. To address this, mobile applications like ONCOpatient® offer a solution by enabling easier data collection from home and can help healthcare practitioners identify which patients benefit most, and improve treatment decisions. By leveraging this mobile application, Kimya’s research could help improve the quality of life for people with incurable cancer. #BreakthroughCancerResearch #Radiotherapy #CancerTreatment #SummerScholars

Langston Suen, PhD, the founder of Opharmic Technology, learned a valuable lesson about medicine when his mother was dying of lung cancer: the patient experience is as important as the treatment. He recounts how, at a late stage of the disease, his mother had agreed to participate in a clinical trial of a targeted cancer therapy. Sadly, the drug didn’t work to reverse her cancer. But selective targeting rendered it side-effect free—she experienced no hair loss, no nausea, and she was able to eat and sleep well. “That was an epiphany for me,” he says. “Traditional cancer treatments, chemo and radiotherapy, are a huge burden to patients. How drug is delivered can make a night and day difference in terms of the patient experience.” Suen embarked on a long and winding journey during which he looked into ways to improve cancer care, throughout his undergraduate years, and then PhD studies at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Suen conceived of a device to push large molecules across biological barriers in the eye. That’s how Opharmic came to be founded in 2016. With about $10 million in funding to date from a group of largely Asian investors, including Hong Kong-based Sino Group and Radiant Tech Ventures, as well as Hong Kong Science Park Venture Fund and angels, the company has developed MeticTouch, a technology platform that enables clinicians to utilize low-frequency ultrasound to noninvasively deliver ocular drugs to the back of the eye. Macromolecules like anti-VEFG are not deliverable as eye drops because they can’t normally penetrate the surface of the eye. But with a novel application of low-frequency ultrasound, Opharmic Technology’s MeticTouch can push drugs to the back-of-the eye, so patients don’t have to undergo the needle: https://bit.ly/3V9XPvA #medicaldevices #medtech #eyecare

KI’s Michael Birnbaum and the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research & Technology Centre (SMART) have discovered a way to produce clinical doses of (CAR) T-cells in a microfluidic chip that's roughly the size of a pack of cards. CAR T-cell therapy is a promising treatment for cancer, especially for leukemia and lymphoma patients. However, the manufacturing process poses challenges, such as inconsistency, long production times, and contamination risks – limiting the accessibility and affordability. The newly discovered method streamlines manufacturing – potentially cutting production times by 30-40% and reducing resource consumption. It also requires fewer starting cells and less culture volume, benefiting patients – primarily pediatric patients with low or insufficient T-cell numbers to produce therapeutic doses of CAR T-cells. This discovery could lower manufacturing costs and patient expenses and enable point-of-care CAR T-cell production in wards and hospitals. SMART is continuing its work on developing this technology for clinical use, mit-ki.org/3S77YIA #MIT #MITKochInstitute #Cancer #CancerResearch #Immunotherapy #GlobalHealth #Leukemia #Lymphoma Duke-NUS Medical School, Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) at A*STAR - Agency for Science, Technology and Research, KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH), and Singapore General Hospital (SGH)

Taiwan is making significant strides in the field of precision medicine, leveraging AI to drive innovation and enhance global well-being. In a recent study, AI technology in Taiwan has transformed heart attack diagnosis and treatment, reducing patient transfer times by approximately 10 minutes. Furthermore, Taiwan's pioneering 'Taiwan National Lung Cancer Early Detection Program' utilizing low-dose computed tomography aims to detect lung cancer early, thus improving survival rates. Pancreatic cancer, a global concern with over 3,000 cases annually in Taiwan, is challenging to diagnose early due to subtle symptoms. However, National Taiwan University Hospital has developed an AI-assisted model for interpreting CT scans, revolutionizing the early detection of pancreatic cancer. This system has received FDA approval and garnered recognition from the US FDA as a 'breakthrough device'. To learn more about Taiwan's advancements in precision medicine, click here: https://lnkd.in/dPpu99DF #PrecisionMedicine #AIInnovation #HealthcareAdvancements

Extremely happy to announce the expansion of our customer base in India as MVision AI received Market authorization for AI segmentation ( Contour+) by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) India. I have witnessed several of my relatives and friends losing their battle of life against cancer in my home country India .According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), it is observed that India has a lower incidence of cancer than the US and several European countries. Still, mortality is much higher due to late diagnosis and delay in the treatment. Hence, this approval holds a very special place in my heart as it will ensure cancer patients in my home country will have access to the fast, intelligent and enhanced cancer care in their fight against cancer. On the market growth side, the size of the Indian medical devices market is estimated at $11 Bn currently and is expected to grow to $50 Bn by 2030 as this sector has been growing steadily at a CAGR of 15% over the last 3 years. #AI, #MedicalDevice, #India, #Radiotherapy #MedTech

🔔 The algorithm submission phase for the HNTS-MRG 2024 Challenge is officially open! This marks a significant milestone in the journey towards advancing AI models for MRI-guided radiotherapy. This #MICCAI-sponsored challenge is set to push the boundaries of innovation, and the anticipation to see the cutting-edge solutions being developed is high. 🌟 📅 Participants will have until September 15th to finalize and submit their algorithms. This challenge not only presents the opportunity to compete for cash prizes 💰 but also serves as a unique platform to contribute to pioneering research in cancer treatment. The work being done in this challenge has the potential to drive significant advancements in radiotherapy, ultimately benefiting patient care. 🩺 ⏳ There’s still time to register for those interested in participating. The HNTS-MRG Challenge offers an exceptional platform for seasoned professionals and emerging talents in AI, healthcare, and oncology to make a meaningful impact. By contributing to this initiative, participants will be at the forefront of developing solutions that could shape the future of cancer research and treatment. Additionally, this challenge offers an opportunity for visibility through post-challenge proceedings/publications, showcasing contributions to the broader scientific community. 📚 For more information, please visit: https://lnkd.in/gwcBaWGd 🤝 Collaboration in this challenge will help push the boundaries of what’s possible in #MedicalAI, #Radiotherapy, and #CancerResearch. Together, these efforts will drive meaningful change in healthcare. 🌍 #HealthcareInnovation #MRI #Oncology #AI

#AMCDiscoveries Researchers from National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS) and Duke-NUS Medical School characterised longitudinal changes in Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA post-radiotherapy in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients, and investigated whether an early (0-2 weeks) or delayed (8-12 weeks) EBV DNA result better predicts for disease-free survival. They found that EBV DNA testing at 8–12 weeks post-RT better enriched for higher-risk NPC patients than at 0–2 weeks. This highlights the importance of selecting an optimal timepoint for EBV DNA measurement post-radiotherapy for prognostication, and also enrichment of patients for treatment intensification via adjuvant chemotherapy. Read more in Oral Oncology, Elsevier: https://bit.ly/48RyF9U AMC researchers involved: Neo Jialing, Enya H W Ong, Wen Min Chow, Joseph T S Wee, Kam-Weng Fong, Yoke Lim Soong, Terence W K Tan, Janice Tan, Sze Yarn Sin, Mei Kim Ang, Sze Huey Tan, Darren Wan-Teck Lim, Melvin L.K. Chua #AMRInews #research #Singapore #biomedical #EBV #NPC #postradiotherapy #NCCS #DukeNUS #SingHealth #AMC Visit SingHealth Duke-NUS AM Research Institute (AMRI) at bit.ly/aboutAMRI

Congratulations to these authors! ESMO Asia 2023 saw four poster presentations and one mini oral session where the data from Guardant Health’s tests was utilized and presented by leading medical oncologists such as Dr. Po-Sheng Yang from Taiwan, Dr. Nitesh Rohatgi from India, Dr. Byoung Chul Cho from South Korea and Dr. Shaheenah Dawood from U.A.E. It is becoming evident that comprehensive genomic profiling is quickly gaining importance in guiding treatment decisions for patients with cancer across all stages of the disease and that comprehensive liquid biopsies offered by Guardant Health are becoming game changers in precision oncology. Visit us at https://lnkd.in/gHNdYtQN to find out more about Guardant Health’s comprehensive genomic profiling tests which can help guide treatment decisions for patients with cancer. #guardanthealthamea #guardanthealth #ESMOAsia #ESMO #comprehensivegenomicprofiling #precisiononcology #liquidbiopsy #liquidissolid #gamechanger #clinicalresearch #abstracts #medicaloncologists #oncologists

👉 𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐝  One of the ten awarded Pioneers of Healthcare projects, titled ‘ReBreCa - AI-driven Breast Cancer Diagnosis in Realistic Clinical Workflows’ aims to develop an AI-based prediction model for breast cancer diagnosis that performs as well as the radiologist, does not require large detailed annotated data sets, and can explain the reasoning behind its decisions.   Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers having caused 685 thousand deaths worldwide in 2020. AI-based early detection methods can decrease mortality and reduce workload, with radiologists in particular. Clinical adoption of AI-based methods, however, is prevented by their unrealistic assumptions, lack of understanding and transparency in clinical decision-making. This project is a promising Twente cooperation between the University of Twente and ZGT. Learn more about each of the ten awarded #PIHC projects: https://lnkd.in/eZWaHSwp #PIHC: TechMed Centre - University of Twente | Hogeschool Saxion | Medisch Spectrum Twente | ZGT | Deventer Ziekenhuis ReBreCa project: Maurice Van Keulen | Christin Seifert | Jeroen Veltman | DJ Evers | jeroen geerdink