UK technology could slash cancer treatment times

Future radiotherapy treatments could take half the time and be more effective as a result of a colour X-ray processor being developed at Manchester University.

The system is being designed to provide in situ verification of the radiation dose and location delivered during cancer treatment, resulting in less damage to surrounding healthy tissue and organs.

Dr Roelof van Silfhout, who is leading the research, said that the new generation of 3D and colour X-ray imaging technology lacked the processing power to do this and therefore, whilst detailed, could not provide accurate real-time results.

‘The UK has invested enormous amounts of basic research into X-ray detectors,’ he said. ‘As a consequence we are very much at the cutting edge in this field. Often, however these systems are a long way away from something you can give to a user.’

van Silfhout cites the example of a silicon Medipix chip, developed by CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, which is able to produce the first X-ray images in colour by converting X-rays directly into electrical charges.