Prostate cancer is the fourth most common cancer in Europe (both sexes, all ages) and the first most common cancer in males.
Prostate tumor treatment is mainly performed either by ablative surgery or external radiotherapy with good efficacy but also with heavy side effects (urinary and sexual dysfunctions). Brachytherapy is a better tolerated and very efficient technique for localized tumors, aiming to irradiate a smaller target volume by placing radioactive seeds or source in direct or close contact with the tumoral tissues. However, its efficacy is highly related to the training and skills of the practitioners and can rise fears regarding the handling of radioactive sources.
The objectives of the Cooperative Brachytherapy (CoBra) project are to improve the quality of both diagnosis and brachytherapy treatment of localized tumors with a first focus on prostate tumor, by developing a new automated solution combining either a steerable needle system or an automatic biopsy module integrated within a MRI compatible guide robot. This CoBra Robot will allow Real-Time MRI guided biopsy or seed implantation and radiation dose calculation. This technology will greatly improve accuracy of both cancer diagnosis and treatment, and increase treated volume, improving it efficacy and patient cure rates while minimizing side effects and improving the patient quality of life. Started in 2018, The CoBra project has reached now the prototype stage with first tests on animal patient planned in October 2021.
The cobra project is funded by the Interreg 2 seas European funding program and involve engineering, mathematics, and automatization researchers from University of Lille (Fr), University of Portsmouth (UK) and University of Delft (NL), radiotherapists and medical physicists from the Portsmouth University Hospital (UK) and Lille Oscar Lambret Cancer Centre (Fr), DEMCON engineering company (NL), SATT Nord Ouest technology valorization society and Eurasanté Health business development agency (Fr).
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