A medical robotic complex for the treatment of lung cancer using X-rays was created by a consortium, which, in addition to the EuroVenture venture fund, includes: clinical hospital No. 122 named after L. G. Sokolov, JSC Svetlana-Rentgen, SPbTETU LETI, ZAO ELTEH-Med (Technopark “LET
According to one of the ideologists of the project – the chief thoracic surgeon of St. Petersburg, the head of the Center for Thoracic Surgery (chest surgery) KB No. 122 Vadim Pishchik’s uniqueness of development is that it can be used during surgery – when, through a small incision on the patient’s body, the surgeon can combine the removal of a malignant tumor with radiation therapy of surrounding tissues using soft X-rays, which will increase the radicality of the treatment method and qualitatively improve its results.
“The robot, thanks to well-designed control and security systems, physical and software interfaces are easily controlled and allow you to conduct the operation in automatic mode. The use of this approach will allow us to approach the solution of the acute problem in the number of deaths from lung cancer, from which in 2018 alone more than 2 million people died worldwide, “explains Vadim Pishchik.
The head of the department of electronic devices and devices “LETI” and the head of the company “ELTECH-Med” Nikolai Trakhov, as well as the general director of JSC “Svetlana-X-ray” Nikolai Kulikov noted that the unique technical solution implemented during the creation of the device, and the main mastered technology for the production of monoblock low-voltage X-ray radiation systems, open wide prospects for the speedy introduction of this method into clinical practice. According to the developers, they managed to implement a platform solution that allows using other, no less effective methods of treating cancer for other localizations (human organs and body parts), such as, for example, photodynamic therapy.
According to preliminary estimates, the future market for this new device (only in Russia, as well as the CIS countries, India and China) is estimated at almost $0.5 billion. In general (according to a marketing study by the Research and Markets analytical agency), by 2023 the global market for radiation therapy equipment after surgery is estimated at $3.2 billion. With an estimated market price of $500 thousand, the domestic robotic X-ray complex will be at least three times cheaper than the nearest Western analogue offered for $1.5 million, which makes it quite competitive in foreign markets.
“After obtaining all the necessary certificates, we will consider options for the industrial release of this device.
