Proton therapy technology developer ProNova Solutions is teaming up with Australian start-up MedPhoton to offer a pencil-beam intensity-modulated proton therapy (IMPT) system with integrated 3D imaging capability.
Under the exclusive partnership, ProNova will integrate MedPhoton's Imaging Ring system into its SC360 proton therapy system, which features a compact superconducting gantry design that supports 360° of patient treatment. A couch-based, in-room conebeam CT (CBCT) device, Imaging Ring is capable of large field-of-view, low-dose, single-source, dual-energy 3D volumetric and 2D planar image acquisitions, according to the vendors. ProNova and MedPhoton said they have already received orders for joint installations involving research as well as clinical use.
In other ProNova news, the company has delivered a 230 MeV cyclotron to the Provision Center for Proton Therapy in Knoxville, TN, which will be the first to receive the vendor's SC360 system. The proton therapy center currently houses a cyclotron and three treatment rooms and is now adding a two-room SC360 system. Installation is expected to be completed in December 2014 at the center.
ProNova is also building a 55,000-sq-ft research and development and manufacturing facility in east Tennessee. The first phase of the facility will enable ProNova to manufacture and fully test SC360 in the U.S., according to the company. The building will be completed in November; ProNova plans to begin operations in January 2015.
The company said it has also received an order from the Singapore Institute of Advanced Medicine Holdings to help establish the first proton therapy facility in Singapore. The firm's SC360 system will be placed at a new outpatient center located on the Singapore Biopolis campus, ProNova said.
