Linearbeam - Protons for Life

Linearbeam is a spin-off of ITEL Healthcare Group, dedicated to the development of a complete proton therapy system based on a linear proton accelerator (p-Linac). The ERHA project has seen ITEL engaged since 2009 on issues closely related to the generation and acceleration of proton beams. Thanks to property investments as well as national and regional operational plans, ITEL has achieved the goal of creating a p-Linac prototype, placing it at the forefront of protontherapy research at an international level. Linearbeam inherits all the assets, know-how and intellectual property of the research results achieved so far by ITEL in recent years, from mechatronics issues to particle acceleration, integrated control software and radiation monitoring. Linearbeam has recently received an investment of 14.9 million euros from the RIF (Research and Innovation) fund supported by Equiter. The project investment plan covers a time horizon of 4 years and aims to complete the p-Linac up to the use of technology for clinical use. The system that will be developed will present innovative features with respect to the proton generation systems based on cyclotrons and synchrotrons. The optical characteristics of the proton beam produced by a p-Linac are in fact superior to those produced by circular accelerators. A further important competitive advantage that the system will allow lies in the possibility of upgrading the plant starting from a treatment room and possibly adding further ones in subsequent phases. Finally, the exquisitely "green" nature of the Linearbeam technology allows an economic saving during the lifetime of the proton therapy center, as well as a considerably lower disposal cost at the end of life compared to circular accelerators. With these premises, Linearbeam is definitely a respectable player in the global proton therapy market.