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An X-ray machine that treats skin cancer without surgery

Where
Xstrahl
2012–2020
Founding engineer → CTO → COO

The most common treatment for skin cancer is surgery, which cuts the cancer out along with a margin of healthy skin. But some people can’t have surgery or don’t want it, and some skin cancers sit where cutting is hard, like the nose or eyelids. Low-energy X-rays can treat these without cutting: they give their dose right at the surface, where the cancer is, and fade before they reach deeper tissue, over several short sessions. This machine brings that treatment to outpatient clinics.

As CTO I took it from working prototypes to production in batches of 10 at our own factory in the UK, redesigning the circuit boards and the mechanical arms and upgrading the software used for calibration and everyday operation, and helped bring it through FDA 510(k) clearance in September 2017.

2015introduced in Europe
2017FDA 510(k) clearance
2 in 1superficial X-ray therapy and electronic brachytherapy
Low-energy X-rays stop near the surfaceSkin surface, where the cancer isDeeper skinTissue underneathX-ray source
Low-energy X-rays give their dose near the surface, where skin cancer is, and fade before they reach deeper tissue.

Two treatments in one compact unit

It received FDA 510(k) clearance in September 2017 and launched in January 2018, billed as the first dual-modality surface radiation therapy system: superficial X-ray therapy and surface electronic brachytherapy in one compact unit, for skin cancers and keloids.

The device is sold today as RADiant Aura.