US PATENT FOR OUR IORT LINACS

• Lug 30, 2020
• IORT, LIAC HWL, PATENT, SIT, US PATENT
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Celebrations for the recent grant of the Italian patent are just coming to an end, that we already have another news cheering us up: we are delighted of sharing with our ever-growing IOeRT community and with the industry at large that SIT has just been granted a patent by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Giuseppe Felici, a physicist in charge of research and development at SIT and one of the registered inventors of the just patented device, explains that radiation protection performances are crucial for an IORT Linac: the lower the amount of X ray produced, the safer is the treatment and the higher is the number of treatments which can be executed.

Needless to say that Radiation Protection has been a major concern since the beginning to clinicians, researchers and industry players.

As IORT dedicated Linacs operate inside not dedicated Operation Rooms, the original and most obvious solution was to use mobile barriers to be placed in the OR immediately before the irradiation; however, such approach creates logistic problems, increases significantly treatment time and, above all, never guarantees the precise reduction.

It became clear to many that a new, standardisable and reproducible methodology was needed to define and measure the radiation protection features of Linacs equipment.

The strongest supporter of this quest, SIT invested both a considerable amount of money and the effort of its research team in this direction.

Stray radiation (SR) produced by IORT dedicated Linacs have been thoroughly analysed according to NCRP 151 description by SIT scientists in terms of direct beam, leakage radiation, scattered radiation from the patient, scattered radiation from the walls, secondary radiations. A novel measurement method was proposed in order to create a standard and reproducible setup capable of providing all the information needed for forecasting SR in any installation.

All these efforts resulted in the conception, design and production of LIAC HWL a true revolution, combining the best overall RP performances with a low weight (600 kg, everything included) and a great mobility and ease of use.

Our system is second to none in terms of versatility. It can be easily deployed in any type of pre-existing hospital structure with no need whatsoever for additional barriers, fixed or mobile. Because of its lightweight and dimension, LIAC HWL can be easily moved from one operating room to another and from one floor to another.

These the words of Francesco Zanetti, ESVP at SIT: “Obtaining and protecting our intellectual property rights is a strategic necessity for our business. However, all this is not only about protecting a product, a design or a process that meets certain specifications according to its originality. This patent is important to us as it recognises and defends our invention, the genius and the efforts of our incredible people, in the ultimate interest of our users and patients. It’s very clear to us that this patent represents a public and well deserved acknowledgement of the efforts made so far to pave the way to IOeRT, next generation radiotherapy solution.”