April 16, 2013 — RaySearch Laboratories AB (publ.) has entered into a license agreement with GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt, Germany regarding techniques for calculating radiobiological effective dose in ion beam treatments.
Ion beam therapy is the most advanced form of external radiotherapy where the tumor is irradiated with protons or carbon ions. Compared to conventional radiotherapy, where the tumor is irradiated with photons, the energy deposition of the ion beams can be controlled much more effectively. This means that the radiation dose can be delivered even more precisely and as a result, the unwanted dose to healthy tissues can be reduced, leading to a reduction of treatment-related side effects. However, the biological effect of ions on tissue is different compared to traditional photon beams and this difference must be accounted for during treatment planning for ion beams.
The Biological Modeling research team at GSI, led by Dr. Michael Scholz, has for a long time developed and refined the so-called Local Effect Model (LEM) for calculating the relative biological effectiveness during irradiation with therapeutic carbon ion beams. In the LEM model the survival of cells irradiated with ion beams is predicted based on their response to photons. In the 90s the group at GSI pioneered the optimization of radiobiological dose within the framework of the LEM model. The technique is now well established in the field of carbon beam therapy and was in clinical use at GSI for a decade (1997 to 2008) and is currently used at the carbon therapy centers HIT in Heidelberg, Germany, and at CNAO in Pavia, Italy, and soon also at the Shanghai Proton and Heavy Ion Hospital in Shanghai, China.
The new agreement, licensed through the Patent and Technology Transfer department at GSI, gives RaySearch the right to integrate algorithms and know-how from GSI related to the LEM in RaySearch’s RayStation treatment planning system. The LEM and RaySearch’s algorithms for dose calculation will be built into the system’s module for carbon treatment plan optimization.
“We are happy to have RaySearch as a strong partner in the field of therapy planning systems, and we are confident that this assures continuous support of ion beam therapy centers with state-of-the-art biophysical modelling for treatment plan optimization. We also hope that this represents the starting point for a long-term cooperation that will help to facilitate the translation from cutting edge research to clinical applications”, says Michael Scholz, Head of the Biological Modelling research group at GSI.
For more information: visit www.raysearchlabs.com
May 03, 2025 
