IBA announced a research collaboration agreement with the University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC) to advance preclinical research into the use of ConformalFLASH 1 technology using an IBA Proteus ONE2 machine. The preclinical evaluation will be focused on skin and muscular normal tissue sparing after proton FLASH irradiation. The two organizations published a joint abstract, "Exper experimental demonstration of 360nA FLASH proton beam current via synchrocyclotron using IBA Proteus ONE," during the Proton Therapy Co-Operative Group (PTCOG) Congress 2023, which took place in Madrid, Spain, in June.

The collaboration announced will facilitate a deepening of the research partnership between IBA and KUMC, as they look to develop ConformalFLASH in a clinical Proteus ONE treatment room.ConformalFLASH is a ultra-high dose rate proton delivery using the Bragg peak, combining the biological tissue-sparing effects of FLASH with the physics properties of the proton Bragg peak. This technology identifies itself from electron FLASH machines, that are currently limited to deliver FLASH dose rates to superficial tumors, and protons transmission FLASH delivery, which has reduced conformality and higher integral doses compared to ConformalFLash. FLASH irradiation has the potential to dramatically change the landscape of radiotherapy and patient cancer care by enhancing the therapeutic window with less toxicity and possibility to escalate the dose with shorter treatment.

FLASH, defined as radiation delivery at ultra-high dose rates (40-60Gy/s), has been shown in preclinical research to spare normal tissue toxicity while maintaining an equivalent anti-tumor efficacy.