Proton Beam Therapy Equipment Cost

The equipment used for proton therapy initially carried a price tag of between 120 million and 200 million which gave many facilities pause lagasse writes.

Proton beam therapy equipment cost.

Particle accelerators don t come cheap. In the field of medical treatment proton therapy or proton radiotherapy is a type of particle therapy that uses a beam of protons to irradiate diseased tissue most often to treat cancer the chief advantage of proton therapy over other types of external beam radiotherapy e g radiation therapy or photon therapy is that the dose of protons is deposited over a narrow range of depth which. A synchrotron the machine that speeds up the protons before they enter the body typically requires its own building and costs about 100 million. The rutherford cancer centre network offers proton beam therapy that is delivered using the latest iba proteusone machines.

Without insurance proton therapy costs can range anywhere from as little as 30 000 to more than 135 000 without insurance. But that calculus is changing. Mevion transformed radiation oncology by inventing compact proton therapy shrinking the equipment footprint and the operational and financial costs significantly while still delivering a powerful cancer fighting tool. Utilising pencil beam scanning for an advanced level of precision proton beam therapy uses high energy proton beams that are directed to the target area with pinpoint accuracy and are delivered in the exact shape of the tumour.

Most proton beam facilities costs less 20 million to 150 million for single and multiroom facilities according to scott warwick executive director of the national association of proton therapy. Traditional proton therapy systems were too expensive too large and much too complex for most cancer treatment centers.