New computer model of lung tissue could herald safer radiotherapy for cancer
An innovative computer model of a human lung is helping scientists simulate, for the first time, how a burst of radiation interacts with the organ on a cell-by-cell level.
This research, carried out at the Â鶹ÊÓƵ and , Darmstadt, could lead to more targeted treatments for cancer and reduce the damage caused by radiotherapy.
Nowadays, more than half of cancer patients receive radiotherapy – but too high a dose can injure their lungs. This can lead to conditions like pneumonitis and fibrosis.
To study these injuries, researchers at GSI and the Â鶹ÊÓƵ used artificial intelligence to develop a new model of part of a human lung – cell by cell.
For the first time, BioDynaMo makes interactive models of entire human organs achievable. This will allow us to model individual patients’ lungs in a way that’s just not possible with the very general statistical methods we currently use.Professor Dr Marco Durante, Head of the Biophysics Department, GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung
What’s more – it will allow us to study the way fibrosis and other conditions are actually caused, and how they develop over time.
The research is published in the journal .
It helps to promote UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 3 () and 9 ().
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