The EU-funded BoneOscopy project goes live, with Cosylab’s participation!
Bone metastasis is a debilitating and incurable condition responsible for two to three million cancer deaths worldwide each year. Although 5–10% of newly diagnosed bone cancer patients will develop bone metastasis, daily X-ray CT imaging is unfeasible due to the severe pain and limited mobility many patients experience and the amount of radiation dose given. As a result, tumour imaging is typically performed only at diagnosis and after treatment (usually three months later), which hampers the ability to monitor therapy effectiveness and make timely adjustments for better tumour control.
BoneOscopy will offer daily imaging during regular particle radiation therapy (PRT) to monitor calcium content and bone cancer regression of patients without any additional exposure. This scientific breakthrough is clinically fundamental to i) improve patient’s quality of life and decrease suffering, ii) improve treatment outcomes and reduce long-term effects, and iii) enable informed medical decision-making based on quantitative data and adapt treatments to patient needs.
Unlocking the full potential of spectroscopy analysis
Nuclear X-ray spectroscopy, also called prompt gamma spectroscopy (PGS), is a well-known method for analysing the elemental chemical composition of materials by irradiating them with particle beams. PGS analysis of tissues had not been previously achieved due to the complexity and the small size of the cellular volumes.
At the heart of BoneOscopy lies the ability to detect prompt gamma rays emitted by cancer during PRT, unlocking the full potential of spectroscopy analysis of cancer without any additional dose. The first in vivo analysis of calcium content in healthy bone tissues was performed in DKFZ Heidelberg, demonstrating the feasibility of the PGS technology to analyse particle-irradiated bone tissue. Building on this, BoneOscopy aims to perform spectroscopy analysis of complex patient environments with very fine resolution.
“BoneOscopy aims to develop a radically new technology to allow informed medical decisions by daily monitoring bone cancer during PRT.”
— Prof. Joao Seco, BoneOscopy Project Coordinator, DKFZ Heidelberg, Germany
Working together to develop ground-breaking technology
The success of BoneOscopy relies on the interdisciplinarity of its consortium, which comprises institutions with key expertise in multiple disciplines such as bioengineering, biology, physics, instrumentation, robotics and clinical PRT. The project brings together know-how in bioengineering, cancer biology and particle radiation therapy (DKFZ), engineering experience in designing and building instrumentation in molecular imaging and robotics expertise (CSIC), physics experience in simulation, detector development and fast electronics and instrumentation development for particle detectors at CERN (LIP) and clinical experience treating bone cancer patients with PRT and specific understanding of PRT beam structure and dose levels (THM).
An industry partner in medical technologies with expertise in the development of novel medical subsystems and solutions that result in complex robotic prototypes covering software and hardware (Cosylab) and an SME with long-standing expertise in project and innovation management, communication, dissemination and exploitation (accelopment) complement the expertise to achieve the project goals.
In BoneOscopy, Cosylab is tasked with managing data collection from the DAQ device/detector. Coslyab will provide software to gather data from the device, store it in a database for archiving, and offer tools for monitoring and analysing the data. Additionally, Cosylab will design a custom mechanical solution and develop intuitive interfaces for controlling the robotic arm.
Boneoscopy facts and figures
Funding Programme: Horizon Europe (HORIZON-EIC-2024-PATHFINDEROPEN-01)
Budget: 3.4 million Euro
Duration: 01.01.2025 – 31.12.2029
Network:
- Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum Heidelberg, DE
- Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, ES
- Laboratório de Instrumentação e Física Experimental de Partículas, PT
- Technische Hochschule Mittelhessen, DE
- Cosylab, laboratorij za kontrolne sisteme, d. d., SI
- accelopment Schweiz AG, CH
References
1. Martins PM, et al. Seco J. PIBS: Proton and ion beam spectroscopy for in vivo measurements of oxygen, carbon, and calcium concentrations in the human body. Scientific Reports. 2020;10(1):1–14 (https://bit.ly/49L6Baf)
Leading researchers
- Joao Seco (DKFZ)
- Dr Michael Seimetz (CSIC)
- Pedro Assis (LIP)
- Mr Gašper Jereb (Cosylab)
- Dr Kilian-Simon Baumann (THM)
Media contact
- Miriam Frances (accelopment)
- e-mail: info@boneoscopy.eu
- linkedin: @BoneOscopy
Follow BoneOscopy’s journey at https://boneoscopy.eu/ to stay up to date on milestones and events!
