Calypso Medical Technologies, a developer of real-time localisation technology used for the precise tracking of tumors, has initiated the clinical study to evaluate the use of the Calypso System for tracking lung cancer tumors during radiation delivery, including a new design of implantable Beacon transponder.
The Beacon transponders have been designed to include an anchoring feature that provides stability in the airways of the lung, to accommodate use in lung cancer tumors.
The system, with its GPS for the Body technology, utilises implanted Beacon transponders to provide precise, continuous information on the tumor location during external beam radiation therapy, Calypso Medical said.
The company said that the system’s electromagnetic technology is the non-ionizing guidance solution that uses internal surrogates to keep the radiation beam precisely focused on the tumor without adding unnecessary radiation.
The US Food and Drug Administration delivery system was engineered to allow for implantation in the lung using a standard bronchoscope and proprietary delivery catheter for permanent implantation in the prostate by way of an introducer needle.
Calypso Medical interim CEO Edward Vertatschitsch said that the initiation of this clinical study is an important milestone in their vision to leverage Calypso’s technology to additional body sites where radiation delivery is severely hampered by the inability to manage tumor motion.
“We are hopeful that our real-time tracking technology will increase the number of patients in whom radiation can become a safer alternative by allowing the clinician to address the high degree of movement exhibited by lung tumors,” Vertatschitsch said.