Combining an Ultra-High Dose Rate (UHDR) electron beam linear accelerator, with an interactive robot on a mobile base, FLASHKNiFE is designed to support the translation of FLASH Radiotherapy into clinical practice, aiming to provide patients with a more tolerated and better cancer treatment.
Together with surgery, radiation therapy is one of the main treatments for cancer. Intensive research as well as great technological advances have made radiotherapy more powerful and more efficient on tumors. However, conventional radiotherapy is still limited by the side effects caused to healthy tissues, and certain tumors remain resistant to radiotherapy.
FLASH radiotherapy, for sparing healthy tissues and expanding indications
Today, around 30% to 40% of patients are resistant to conventional radiotherapy treatment. Moreover, there are many radiation-induced side effects and damages to healthy tissue surrounding the treated area. These constraints severely limit the radiation dose given to the patient, therefore impacting treatment efficacy and lowering survival rates.
By significantly reducing the treatment time, from several minutes to a fraction of a second, FLASH radiotherapy can give a greater dose of radiation in as few as a single session, with less side effects. It provides a more efficient and better tolerated outcome in cancer treatment, while also expanding potential indications and widening the therapeutic window.12
FLASH radiotherapy has been tested in several pre-clinical and clinical studies, including the treatment of a first patient, and is shown to have a reproducible effect of sparing healthy tissue, while still efficiently destroying cancer cells.3
FLASHKNiFE A device designed for external and intraoperative radiotherapy
- Ultra-high dose rate, 6 or 9MeV radiation head, able to deliver dose rate over 300Gy/s
- Interactive 6-axis robot to position and align the electron applicator to the lesion
- Mobile base to easily move the system inside and out of operating rooms
A breakthrough solution to current limitations in radiotherapy
1234 FLASHKNiFE combines usability, flexibility and FLASH mode, for external and intraoperative radiotherapy.
The treatment could be given in as little as a single session.
Conventional radiotherapy treatment is usually given in 5 to 20 sessions spread out over several weeks, involving many trips to the medical center. FLASH radiotherapy is given in a single session, providing a cost-saving solution.
FLASH radiotherapy decreases the toxicity on normal tissues.4
This allows to increase the doses given to the patient, also called dose escalation, which provides a better treatment and expands the indications.
FLASHKNiFE can be used for several external and intraoperative radiotherapy indications.4
The degrees of freedom of the device are such that it could potentially be used in most patient and table configurations and specialties for treatments of skin lesions and intraoperative radiotherapy to treat the deepest and least accessible tumors.
Patient comfort and safety are improved.
The patient receives their treatment in one single session, suffers from less side effects and benefits from a higher treatment efficiency.
Disclaimer: FLASHKNiFE is not commercially available and has not been cleared for sale. This device is intended exclusively for display or demonstration purposes and may not be made available as a medical device until it has been brought into conformity with the relevant regulations.
References
1. Favaudon, V., Caplier, L., Monceau, V., Pouzoulet, F., Sayarath, M., Fouillade, C., Poupon, M., Brito, I., Hupé, P., Bourhis, J., Hall, J., Fontaine, J., & Vozenin, M. Ultrahigh dose-rate FLASH irradiation increases the differential response between normal and tumor tissue in mice. Science Translational Medicine, 6(245) (2014). https://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.3008973
2. Vozenin, M., Hendry, J., & Limoli, C. Biological benefits of ultra-high dose rate FLASH radiotherapy: Sleeping Beauty awoken. Clinical Oncology, 31(7), 407–415 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clon.2019.04.001
3. Bourhis, J., Sozzi, W. J., Jorge, P. G., Gaide, O., Bailat, C., Duclos, F., Patin, D., Ozsahin, M., Bochud, F., Germond, J., Moeckli, R., & Vozenin, M. Treatment of a first patient with FLASH-radiotherapy. Radiotherapy and Oncology, 139, 18–22 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radonc.2019.06.019
4. Schüler, E., Acharya, M., Montay‐Gruel, P., Loo, B. W., Vozenin, M., & Maxim, P. G. Ultra‐high dose rate electron beams and the FLASH effect: From preclinical evidence to a new radiotherapy paradigm. Medical Physics, 49(3), 2082–2095 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1002/mp.15442
EIT Health Funding
The FLASHKNiFE project was selected among 121 projects to be funded by the EIT Health (European Institute of Technology), focused on supporting innovative healthcare solutions to turn ideas into commercially viable products and services. As part of this project, A first multicentric open-label non comparative randomized trial on skin cancer will be launched in the near-future, in 4 leading clinical centers across Europe.
