Netherlands Cancer Institute, Elekta and UvA launch POP-AART Lab
The Partnership for Online Personalized AI-driven Adaptive Radiation Therapy (POP-AART) is the 28th lab to join ICAI. The lab will focus on the use of artificial intelligence for precision radiotherapy.
It is a major challenge to give patients the right dose of radiation, at the right spot with least damage to healthy tissue, and while the patient and the tumor move and change shape during radiation and over time. Within the POP-AART lab six PhD researchers will develop novel AI strategies for improving the images on which the radiation treatment is based, predicting changes over time of the tumor and incorporating them in automatic treatment planning and adaptation.
POP-AART will run for five years. Research topics range from improving CT images obtained just before radiation to the level of diagnostic quality CT images, predicting deformations and segmentations of the tumor and organs at risk and incorporate these data in online and automated treatment plan optimization for each patient individually at each radiation session.
The lab will be led by scientific directors Efstratios Gavves and Jan-Jakob Sonke. Gavves is assistant professor of Computer Vision and Deep Learning at UvA. Sonke is theme leader image guided therapy at the Netherlands cancer institute and Professor by special appointment of Adaptive Radiotherapy at the Faculty of Medicine at UvA. The Governing Board will consist of academic partners Lodewyk Wessels (NKI-AvL) and Mark de Graef (UvA) and industry partner Rui Lopes (Elekta).
About the Netherlands Cancer Institute
The Netherlands Cancer Institute, founded in 1913, is among the top 10 comprehensive cancer centers, combining world-class fundamental, translational, and clinical research with dedicated patient care. Their initiatives to promote excellent translational research have been recognized by the European Academy of Cancer Sciences, when they designated the institute ‘Comprehensive Cancer Center of Excellence in Translational Research’.
About Elektra
For almost five decades, Elekta has been a leader in precision radiation medicine. Their more than 4,000 employees worldwide are committed to ensuring everyone in the world with cancer has access to – and benefits from – more precise, personalized radiotherapy treatments. Headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, Elekta is listed on NASDAQ Stockholm Exchange.