The goal of the project is to reduce the radiation dose to the coronary arteries and heart muscle through improved radiotherapy with deep breathing techniques, thereby reducing the risk of future heart disease that can lead to premature death and decreased quality of life. This more person-centred treatment technique requires a confident and well-informed patient who has trained the correct breathing technique over a longer period so that the patient’s position and breathing pattern can be reproduced for each treatment session. This can lead to a sense of increased self-responsibility for the patients and shorter lead times for the healthcare system.

The project is led by Maria Brovall together with PhD Frida Smith (RCC West) and Professor Thomas Björk-Eriksson (RCC West), Chief Hospital Physicist, PhD Anna Karlsson (Medical Physics and Technology (MFT) Therapeutic Radiation Physics, Sahlgrenska University Hospital), MD, PhD Dan Lundstedt (Sahlgrenska University Hospital), companies (C-Rad AB, BOID), radiotherapy staff, patients, and healthy volunteers.

The project has a clear person-centred approach where the new digital tool is developed in various stages, with a prototype created in co-creation with different staff categories in radiotherapy, patients who have undergone radiotherapy with DIBH, researchers, and companies. The next step has been to train deep breathing techniques in collaboration with healthy volunteers to find the best instruction that provided the maximum distance between the chest wall and healthy organs such as the heart and lungs. After this phase, former patients and radiotherapy staff have again tested the next version of the product and evaluated orally in various workshops which information, coaching, and breathing techniques work best.

In the spring of 2024, a pilot study and subsequent RCT study are planned to longitudinally evaluate the effect of the developed product. The study is planned to be conducted at Sahlgrenska University Hospital, including both the radiotherapy departments in Gothenburg and Borås.

Funders: Verification funds from Chalmers Innovation Office, Vinnova, and the VGR Innovation Fund.

Link to DIBH-App