Groundbreaking Research comes to the Alexander Graham Bell Centre
The Alexander Graham Bell Centre for Digital Health, based at the Moray College UHI campus is delighted to welcome a new tenant. Alceli Ltd have Scottish Government funding initially for 1 year to develop a prototype in the development of proton therapy treatment for the radiological treatment of cancer.
The company, started by Director Steve Hunt - who has a background in engineering and has worked in many countries including Switzerland and Thailand - moved into the Centre in Elgin in early August have ambitions to not only design and test a new prototype but also enter the field of manufacture.
The current staff team consists of 7 employees and 1 Executive Director including 1 young apprentice. Their plan is to employ a number of young people as apprentices and the company are committed to investing in young people as they grow with an aim to build the staff team up to 50.
After looking at several locations, Alceli chose the Alexander Graham Bell Centre as the base for their ground breaking work because of its location and links with NHS Grampian and the University of the Highlands and Islands, Moray College.
Steve Hunt, Director said ‘The Centre here in Elgin is perfect for our research. The location is ideal for us and our stakeholders and being able to link with the work of the University and NHS Grampian is a real advantage for us. The facilities here in the centre are perfect for our work and I would encourage other companies to consider the Alexander Graham Bell Centre when looking for accommodation.’
Jacqui Taylor, Head of Marketing and External Relations said: ‘We are delighted to welcome Alceli to the Alexander Graham Bell Centre for Digital Health. The work of the company is a perfect fit for the ethos of the Centre and our stakeholders and reflects Morays strength as an area to develop, pilot and test comprehensive digital healthcare models.
More about Proton Therapy:
There are many advantages to Proton Therapy as a treatment of cancer. Proton therapy (PT) is the use of protons (rather than X-ray or gamma radiation). It has strong advantages over other types of treatment in certain cancers, such as brain cancers, where current 5-year survival rates are very low (~20%).
It can also reduce or eliminate the need for chemotherapy with its associated devastating side-effects, and in some cases (such as eye cancers and prostate cancer) provide a cure without the loss of function (loss of sight, impotence) caused by surgery.
PBT is an invisible and highly controlled beam that works by using pencil point precision to target a tumour. When it releases radiation, the radiation beam slows down, which allows the protons to interact with electrons allowing a release of high-energy. This high-energy is then released into its designated location (the tumour). As the beam is controlled by a physician the beam only targets the shape and depth of a tumour to allow healthy tissue to remain undamaged.
The advantages of PBT have been known for a long time, but it is still not widely used, in part due to the previously high cost of building the large and complex particle accelerators necessary.