Healthcare Digital exclusively speaks with CEO and founder of the innovative breast cancer radiation therapy technology
By Gabe Perna
When Tony Falco, PhD, CEO and Founder of Resonant Medical, was doing clinical and research work at Montreal’s McGill University Health Center on developing a digital x-ray-based detector for imaging soft tissue, he realized something critical.
“I was doing my PhD around 1996-‘97 and I came to the conclusion that x-rays just weren’t suitable for imaging soft tissue. Particularly for breast cancer, using X-rays to locate the lumpectomy cavity, or area where the tumor was removed from through surgery, was not feasible,” recalls Dr. Falco.
As a result, he went down a new path and started to develop ideas using 3D ultrasound in new ways, particularly during the planning stages of radiation therapy and on a daily basis during treatment delivery, which gave rise to the idea for Resonant Medical’s flagship product, the Clarity System.
Combining 3D Ultrasound with CT scan imaging, the Clarity System is a technology with the precise ability to locate the lumpectomy cavity to provide guidance in radiotherapy planning and delivery. Headquartered out of Montreal, Resonant is the manufacturer and distributor of this revolutionary device, which is now available across Canada, into the US, UK and Europe.
We spoke to Dr. Falco recently in a Q and A covering a wide range of topics.
Resonant Medical CEO Dr. Tony Falco
What is wrong with the current methods of visualizing tumors before delivering radiation?
The problem with x-ray imaging is that it’s very poor at making distinctions between soft tissues. A good example of this is in breast cancer patients. During a lumpectomy, the lump, or tumor, is removed through surgery and what remains is a cavity. The body tries to heal that cavity after surgery. When a patient comes in for radiotherapy to treat that area, liquid has filled the cavity inside the breast. CT imaging is very poor at differentiating between the liquid filled cavity and the surrounding mostly healthy soft tissue. It can’t make the distinction between the cavity and the main part of the breast.
With x-rays you’re trying to find the target of the tumor and you can’t see it. Other systems will either underestimate the tumor and not pick up all of it or overestimate and include too much of the healthy surrounding tissue.
What are the advantages to the Clarity System?
For one, with Clarity we’re able to see the differences between the soft tissues through the use of Resonant’s advanced 3D ultrasound. We can see the liquid filled cavity quickly and distinctly identify the target area when delivering radiation therapy. We can see what others can’t. That makes a huge difference.
Clarity enables radiation therapists to compare a fused ultrasound-CT image of the tumor cavity taken at the time of treatment planning, and then daily with each consecutive radiation treatment, to get an actual visual image and location of the tumor cavity on a regular basis. This precision has even enabled physicians in some cases to reduce the field of radiation they need to deliver, which is always preferable if clinically justified.
Also, Clarity is radiation-free and doesn’t add any extra radiation to the treatment process. If you acquire x-ray images to find the tumor cavity, every time you use an x-ray image you add more radiation. You’re increasing the probability the patient might develop another cancer. You don’t get that with our system. It is very gentle and safe. Many women positively associate ultrasound with memories of pregnancy and the first images of their unborn babies, so they are very comfortable with the procedure. And finally, the process is very quick. It doesn’t take much time to scan a breast using Clarity.
Do you think there is not enough knowledge regarding the prevalence of breast cancer in this country and in the world in general?
One of the things we want to do is increase knowledge on this disease. While it primarily occurs in women older than age 50, breast cancer also occurs in large numbers in younger women, which I don’t think the general population is aware of.
Younger women also have a 20 percent recurrence rate 15 years after treatment. That is, a 1 in 5 chance that a cancer comes back 15 years after treatment in women under the age of 40. Resonant believes it can do better than that with its Clarity technology.
Will the proposed US healthcare reform have an impact on Resonant Medical?
We’re keeping an eye to see where it’s going. Medicare has reimbursed our product and its use, from the start for the last five years, without a problem. Centers in the U.S., UK and Canada use our products and it is CE marked, Health Canada approved and FDA-cleared. But we’re keeping an eye on the healthcare reform in the States, which could affect our situation positively or negatively.
You have an impressive footprint internationally – what are your plans for growth?
Our growth in Europe has been pretty good. We’ve been happily surprised at the uptake for our product in Europe. We’re going to strike more distributor agreements in Europe to continue to grow our product there. We also have future plans to expand into Asia and to continue growing our sales force in the States.
CT US Fusion
What makes Resonant Medical stand out?
What makes Resonant stand out is the team’s dedication to soft and gentle, high quality patient care. That’s really what we’re here to do. We want to improve patient care using technology that isn’t intrusive or invasive and that is gentle, safe and smart. Everyday, we work on improving our technology and therefore, improving patient care–this is always on the top of our minds.