Nanotechnology for
Advanced Medical Devices
Molecular Synthetics plans to substantially transform the rapidly growing market for brachytherapy devices. Technology under development should also greatly expand the variety of applications for temporary local radiotherapy.
The widest current use for brachytherapy is in the treatment of prostate cancer. Treatment is based on "beta-emitting" isotopes. These emit large particles during radioactive decay that can only penetrate a centimeter or so into tissue.
Typically the radioactive source - an isotope of iodine or of palladium is welded into titanium capsules or seeds about two millimeters in length. Seeds may be individually glued to a tumor surface or loaded into catheters spaced at one centimeter intervals. THe catheters are pushed into the prostate cancer area under X-ray guidance and then removed a few days later.
MSI makes a pourable castable radiotherapeutic material. This is developing catheters with continuous radiation. This will avoid the variation in dose between seeds in current products and result in a product that is far more compatible with imaging modalities such as MRI.
This product is based on an MSI ferrite building block.