IBA (Ion Beam Applications SA), the world's leading provider of proton therapy solutions for the treatment of cancer, announces that University of Iowa and IBA have signed a research collaboration agreement and a technology license agreement to develop ultra-high precision IMPT(*).

This agreement includes an exclusive license on the Dynamic Collimation System (DCS) recently developed and presented by the University of Iowa at the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) meeting in Austin, Texas.

The Dynamic Collimation System is an innovative device developed by University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine faculty members(**) to improve dose conformity in IMPT. The applications for the DCS could extend to many tumor sites and is expected to improve hypo-fractionated treatments in Proton Therapy on a five-year horizon.

Frédéric Genin, Executive VP Product Development and Management commented: "As soon as we saw the Dynamic Collimation System, we were amazed by its power and its simplicity. The team at University of Iowa impressed us by their creativity and by their approach to the possibilities of Proton Therapy. We are therefore delighted to partner with them on this project."

Daniel Hyer, Ph. D., Proton Therapy Technical Director and Clinical Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology, added: "Pencil Beam Scanning (PBS) provides the ability to magnetically shape dose distributions to match the target volume, but the conformity of these distributions can still be improved with the addition of collimation. Over the last two years, we have developed a novel device, called the Dynamic Collimation System (DCS), which is capable of providing layer-by-layer collimation. The DCS is also designed with a much smaller footprint than an MLC, allowing for a small air gap to maximize the benefits of collimation in proton therapy. We are excited to be working with IBA on this project to further improve proton therapy."

Zev Sunleaf, executive director of the University of Iowa Research Foundation, concluded: "We are pleased to be working with IBA to advance this UI research in order to improve patient's outcomes in Iowa and around the world."

(*) Intensity Modulated Proton Therapy
(**) Daniel Hyer, Ph.D., Proton Therapy Technical Director and Clinical Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology; Patrick Hill, Ph.D., Assistant Researcher in the Department of Human Oncology (University of Wisconsin); Dongxu Wang, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology; Ryan Flynn, Ph.D., Clinical Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology; and their team.

more about IBA