Radboudumc spin-off Thirona, UMC Utrecht spin-off Quirem Medical and the Radboudumc are joining forces to enable smart and fast image analyses. The project will receive a grant of one and a half million euros from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
The three parties are joining hands to improve and speed up the assessment of medical images. Such analyses play a crucial role in the 'radiology of the future', say the parties. However, to achieve this, research and entrepreneurship are needed. By doing so, the parties aim to make smart image analysis available to everyone.
Algorithms
Thirona develops algorithms for analysing medical images. Among other things, the use of the algorithms makes these analyses more accurate than manual analysis of the images, explains director Eva van Rikxoort: "With those algorithms - a form of Artificial Intelligence, AI - medical images are easier, more accurate and more effective to analyse. It takes some time to develop an algorithm that works as well as the average doctor, or sometimes even better. But then it also delivers great benefits. For example, it reduces doctors' workloads and can contribute to faster and more accurate diagnosis for patients. Currently, Thirona analyses CT scans of the lungs daily for hundreds of hospitals worldwide, especially for patients with COPD. In this new project, we will develop new algorithms, for cystic fibrosis - also known as cystic fibrosis - and for oncology."
Thirona provides several software solutions. For instance, the company's lung quantification software enables analysis of chest CT scans to detect lung diseases, evaluate them and plan treatment. The company also provides CAB4TB, a detection system that can recognise tuberculosis-related abnormalities on chest X-rays. RetCAD is a system that detects abnormalities related to Macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy.
Quirem Medical
Quirem Medical produces radioactive-based spheres, also called holium microspheres. The company aims to improve the treatment outcome of irresectable liver cancer with SIRT by using microspheres that can be visualised and quantified. Quirem thus aims to improve patient selection, treatment planning and treatment verification.
Jan Sigger, director of Quirem Medical, explains: "The spheres are injected into a blood vessel and then jammed into the tumour's capillaries. With that local radiation from within, the tumour cells are killed. Imaging is essential in this treatment. To determine which patients are eligible, to track the microspheres during treatment and to determine the right dose for each tumour. In this form of precision medicine, imaging is really indispensable."
The company provides several products. For instance, the company supplies QuiremSpheres, which consist of Holmium-166 microspheres that work in the same way as existing Yttrium-90-based SIRT products. The microspheres emit beta radiation that kills tumour cells. QuiremSphere can be visualised with SPECT and MRI imaging. In addition, Quirem Medical provides the solution QuiremScout for safely evaluating the distribution of intra-arterially injected microspheres prior to the SIRT procedure. The insights provided by QuiremScout help the treating physician determine the safety and efficacy of the procedure. The software package Q-suite helps determine the dose in the tumour and healthy liver tissue after SIRT with QuiremSpheres.
'Good model for collaboration'
From Radboudumc, professor of functional image analysis Bram van Ginneken and medical biologist Frank Nijsen are involved in the project. "For us, this is a good model for collaboration," said Van Ginneken. "We do research here and when the results are good, you know that there is a company that will also do something with it. Unfortunately, that is far from always the case. Moreover, we are all in the region. A region where a lot is happening and the interaction between research and business is well matched. The people we train here in AI used to go to work in other regions. Now they go to Thirona or Screenpoint Medical, another Radboudumc spin-off." Nijsen adds: "Technical physicians from the University of Twente are happy to join us."
Van Ginneken hopes the project in particular will lead to useful algorithms for oncology. "More and more treatment options mean that patients with cancer are living longer. This means that more and more scans are also made to monitor the course of the disease and treatment. Is a tumour getting smaller or bigger? Are metastases developing, which ones are suitable for treatment? Such questions can in principle also start to be answered by smart algorithms that automatically read and assess the scans. We will develop software that analyses the images of colon cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer and bone cancer. Based on this, the treatment team can plan more accurately. That is the direction we are taking in this research and development project. Precipitating knowledge into marketable products that benefit both patients and doctors. That's how you make an impact."
'You immediately see what you are doing'
Nijsen: "Our microspheres can be made visible during treatment. If you know where they get stuck, you can also calculate the radiation given off. That dose can then be compared during treatment with the dose needed to actually target the tumour properly. As one of the few in Europe, the Radboudumc and the MITeC have several innovative operating theatres in which we can research and develop this properly. You immediately see what you are doing. It would be great if this project allows us to automatically calculate the location and tumour size, followed by advice on the optimal radiation dose. These are the vistas of Radiology of the Future."
"This ERDF contribution fits perfectly with the new emphases in the economic policy of the province of Gelderland," says Gelderland's deputy for economy, Christianne van der Wal. "In the Arnhem-Nijmegen region there are companies with great innovative capacity, which contribute to solutions in the health sector. This is how we give these innovations a boost and I am happy about that."
Author: Wouter Hoeffnagel
