Within the Priority 2020 program of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia, the Strategic Office of Tomsk Polytechnic University plans to open the Healthcare Engineering Technological Federal Reference Center in the field of ionizing radiation technologies in radiology, radiotherapy and nuclear medicine at the university. The Center will allow combining educational programs, expertise and technological developments to accelerate their implementation in clinical practice and improve the quality of medical assistance.
First, the relevance of the creation of the Center is due to the fact, that oncological diseases are the second most common cause of death in the Russian Federation. Second, TPU and the Tomsk Region present all types of radiation therapy (photon, electron beam, hadron), as well as new developments in the field of ray diagnostics and nuclear medicine. At the same time, technologies with the use of such ionizing radiation in the form of radiation therapy are used in more than 70 per cent of cases in the form of independent or combined treatment, while in diagnostics in almost all cases.
According to Mekhman Yusubov, head of the TPU Healthcare Engineering Strategic Office, the work of the Center is planned to be developed in three areas: the development and implementation of new methods and technologies, expert work and education. For each of the directions has been developed a roadmap.
Starting from 2022, TPU plans to work on the development and implementation of new methods and technologies in the field of photon radiation therapy, undertake research of physical, technical and radiobiological studies, and clinical trials. In addition, the TPU engineers jointly with their partners, want to work on the creation of specialized software, develop methodological (clinical) recommendations and concentrate on developing technological solutions for therapy and diagnostics. The TPU engineers also intend to develop and apply various programs of additional professional education for medical personnel in cooperation with medical organizations, to transform the educational program of TPU in the field of nuclear technologies, to hold thematic webinars, seminars and conferences.
“The main goal of creating the Center is to take a leadership position in the creation and research of sovereign technologies using ionizing radiation, new educational models and their translation into clinical practice to reduce mortality from neoformation, based on the use of personalized methods in radiology, radiotherapy and nuclear medicine,”
said the head of the TPU Strategic Office.
The TPU scientists want to actively involve educational and scientific and technological partners in the implementation of the projects of the center, including Tomsk National Research Medical Center, Siberian State Medical University, the Burnazyan Federal Medical Biophysical Center, the Federal Biomedical Agency of Russia and others.
“Together with Siberian State Medical University, we have already developed a joint program of additional professional education and advanced training for medical physicists. In addition, in 2022-2023, jointly with Tomsk National Research Medical Center, we expect to create a laboratory for the development of radiation therapy in the field of neutron radiation therapy based on a cyclotron and a reactor, photon radiation therapy based on modern linear accelerators, electron-beam therapy, based on small betatrons and in the field of radiobiological research for the personalization of radiation therapy. Moreover, in 2022, it is planned to create software for calculating the radiological parameters of photon radiation therapy using the example of prostate treatment. Clinics of the Russian Federation can become consumers of the software. It will significantly improve the quality of medical assistance. To make our Center a truly unique educational and scientific platform, we plan to equip it with the VERT system. It is designed for educational and research purposes in the field of physical, technical and medical areas, in particular, radiation medicine, radiation therapy, radiation diagnostics and nuclear medicine. This is quite a functional system that allows not only reaching certain levels of technological solutions but also expanding them,” Mekhman Yusubov explained.