JOHANNESBURG – AT the Future Technologies Forum, which took place on February 13-14, Alexey Likhachev, Rosatom Director General, presented the medical achievements of the nuclear industry: equipment for growing new blood vessels, bioimplants, new possibilities for radiopharmaceuticals and quantum computing.
Nuclear solutions
Rosatom demonstrated additive technologies, which are extremely effective in situations where the treatment of a patient is impossible without artificial and biological materials.
In particular, the exposition included a mockup of the magnetoacoustic bioprinter that “grows” tubular tissues under physical fields, as well as a bioreactor, where a vessel “learns” to work properly. This device makes it possible to fulfil the task of growing functional blood vessels of small diameter from the patient’s biological material. The patients’ organisms will not reject blood vessels grown from their cells; such vessels will develop and grow. This is especially important in pediatric transplantology.
“Rosatom companies are currently engaged with healthcare developments in such areas as additive technologies, radiopharmaceuticals and quantum computing. All the research we are doing is aimed at providing doctors with significantly increased capabilities of delivering health care to patients. Thus, in the field of additive technologies, we already make implants of artificial biosimilar materials while also beginning to grow human organs from the patients’ cells. In the atomedics field, we are developing innovative radiopharmaceuticals and about to launch production of the entire range of radiopharmaceuticals applicable in global medical practice.
“For this purpose, we are building the largest plant in Europe that will produce radiopharmaceuticals in Obninsk, Kaluga region. We are already studying practical applications of quantum computing in the medicine of the future, in particular, to detect diseases at the earliest stages. Our developments are to move healthcare to a completely new level and to help achieve a completely different quality of life for people,” said Alexey Likhachev, Rosatom Director General.
Rosatom scientists have grown a blood vessel equivalent with a length of 2 cm. They plan to grow equivalents of up to 10 cm length by the end of the year. The experience of growing individual vessels will allow moving on to the next step — complex branched systems that are growing organs, such as the thyroid gland, kidney, liver and others.
At the Forum, Rosatom also presented innovative developments and solutions in the atomedics. In particular, the visitors found out about the progress of Rosatom’s construction of Europe’s largest radiopharmaceuticals plant with GMP standards. Along with the plant construction, Rosatom scientists are also developing exact radiopharmaceuticals to be produced by the Corporation.
Thus, based on the available technology doctors have developed a unique one-of-a-kind medication based on microspheres of human albumin labeled with rhenium-188 — HEPATOREN-MRNC. The medication is already used to treat patients with malignant liver tumors. It is delivered through the femoral artery directly to the liver and then distributed throughout the tumor vasculature. The procedure stops the growth of tumors in 90% of cases and is effective in combination therapy.
Other unique developments include biosimilar implants with a special coating equivalent to bone tissue, which increases compatibility with patient tissue. Rosatom scientists were the first in the country to receive registration certificates for the special software developed to create uniquely shaped implants in accordance with the patient’s CT and MRT data, as well as finished products. Digital technologies reduce the time it takes to produce a finished implant from 60 to 7 days while also shortening patients’ recovery period by 2-3 times.
The visitors could also see the work of a quantum algorithm which allows identifying signs of pneumonia on X-ray images: increasing power of quantum computers will make it possible to detect diseases at the earliest stages. The presentation of related technologies included pre-production laser and electronics samples for quantum computing, which the Russian Quantum Center is testing according to the quantum computing roadmap.
On top of that, Rosatom also made the first presentation of a new generation device designed to treat oncological diseases – the Torus linear accelerator, as well as the Sanginox device, which synthesizes unlimited amount of nitric oxide from the air and supplies it to the blood circuit when used with artificial blood circulation devices.
For Africa, where healthcare infrastructure varies significantly across countries and access to advanced medical treatments can be limited, these technologies could revolutionize patient care.
These innovations promise to address some of the continent’s most pressing healthcare challenges. The ability to grow functional blood vessels from a patient’s own cells could greatly enhance the success rates of transplants and surgeries, reducing the risk of rejection and complications.
These achievements hold the promise of not only advancing healthcare delivery but also building capacity and fostering innovation within the African healthcare sector.
By leveraging these technologies, African countries could see significant improvements in patient outcomes and a reduction in healthcare disparities. The adoption and adaptation of Rosatom’s healthcare technologies could play a pivotal role in transforming healthcare across the continent, making advanced medical treatments more accessible and affordable.
Background
Modern therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals consist of a target molecule, which is a conductor to the cancer cell, and an isotope that is to destroy the cancer cell without affecting healthy tissue.
Such medications are intended for patients with inoperable tumors and metastatic lesions, common in prostate cancer, breast cancer, brain cancer, neuroendocrine tumors, blood cancer and other diseases. Radiopharmaceuticals are also used for diagnostic purposes in cardiology, neurology and other fields. They make it possible to give the most accurate diagnosis, which is the basis for effective treatment.
Health Technologies is a division that accumulates Rosatom’s healthcare expertise. The company was established on the basis of Rosatom companies and institutes to comprehensively develop healthcare technologies in Russia and abroad.
The Health Technologies Division is developing in four main areas: comprehensive healthcare solutions; production and supply of isotope products (50 countries); diagnostics and treatment equipment; solutions for product treatment with ionizing radiation.
– CAJ News
