August 2022 – Launch of DELIVR! project
ADIS is part of an European consortium to develop an “AI powered turn-key solution for precision dosimetry in MR guided interventional oncology”.
DELIVR is a turn-key solution for precision radiation dosing in MR-guided selective internal radiotherapy (SIRT) for liver tumours. DELIVR consists of a magnetic resonance imaging (MR) compatible hardware (set of catheters and guidewires), real-time catheter tracking and dosimetry software for on-the-fly dose adjustment under MR guidance, to administer a precise radiation dose accurately at the tumour location. This drastically improves response rates and reduces side effects.
ADIS will builds novel deep learning (DL) based algorithms to enable real-time tracking of the MR-visible catheters/guidewires of Nano4Imaging. The DL algorithms rely on modelling of the passive tracking markers, real-time 3D image reconstruction for image analysis, and interactive real-time image position adjustment and angulation functionality during continuous scanning.
Globally liver tumours cause over 830.000 deaths annually. Several treatment options as surgery, chemotherapy, targeted drugs, and immune therapies exist, but provide low 5-year survival rates (<20%). In recent years SIRT has emerged as a potential revolutionary treatment for liver tumours offering up to 70% response rates. SIRT involves administration of radioactive microspheres via catheters into the hepatic arteries under a combination of X-ray and MR guidance, thus delivering a localized dose at the tumour.
SIRT offers significant potential advantages, but accurate delivery of a precise radiation dose at the tumour remains difficult due to a lack of dosimetry software, resulting in significant over- and underdosing and variable treatment responses. Another challenge is that currently used surgical catheters and guidewires are not always amenable to real-time tracking, thus not allowing accurate dose placement on-the-fly. Furthermore, the process is painstakingly inefficient and time consuming, requiring patient transfer from a X-ray suite to the MR room multiple times during procedure.
Fully MR guided SIRT with precision dose prediction and accurate dose delivery options can streamline this process and significantly impact clinical adoption. The DELIVR project fills in this technology gap and merges complementary expertise for the development of enabling technologies for real-time MR-guided SIRT. The project delivers a turn-key platform comprising of :
1. MR visible catheters/guidewires for microsphere delivery (Nano4Imaging GmbH)
2. real-time catheter navigation software (ADIS SA)
3. real-time dosimetry software (Quirem Medical B.V.)
4. clinical analysis and validation (Radboud universitair medisch centrum, Dep. of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine)
The combination of these tools in one set allows for precise and real-time dose prediction, readjustment of catheter position and accurate delivery at the tumour location during a fully MR-guided procedure. This will drastically improve treatment response rates while reducing radiation exposure for both clinical staff and patients.
This project is an EUREKA Eurostars application and is supported for the swiss part by the Swiss Innovation Agency (Innosuisse).