Startup developing tool to help guide patients through radiation safety concerns
Researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) are working to develop an online tool to help guide patients through radiopharmaceutical therapy.
RPT uses radioactive medicines to target cancer cells while limiting exposure to surrounding healthy tissue. After treatment, patients must adhere to strict and detailed precautions to protect themselves and others from radiation exposure. Currently, post-treatment instructions are typically given to patients via lengthy paper instructions, which can be difficult for some to understand.
To address this, LifeNuclear, a healthcare technology startup founded at UAB, is developing a digital platform designed to help patients and caregivers understand and follow radiation safety instructions after treatment. TheraGuide is designed to replace complex written instructions with treatment-specific digital guidance. The platform includes educational content, interactive checklists, multilingual support and personalized timelines intended to deliver information at the appropriate stage of treatment.
“Our goal is to make complex radiation safety instructions easier to understand, easier to follow and easier to reference whenever questions arise at home,” Remo George, PhD, founder of LifeNuclear and an assistant professor in UAB’s Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging Sciences Program, said in a UAB news release.
The idea for LifeNuclear came from a conversation with a colleague about the difficulty some patients have understanding the written instructions provided after radiopharmaceutical therapy. George's own experience with lengthy medical instructions also reinforced the need for a more accessible approach.
“Important medical information should be understandable to everyone,” George said. “That experience motivated me to create a simpler, more patient-friendly approach.”
LifeNuclear has already reached several early development milestones; the company has executed a licensing agreement with UAB, is in the process of developing a TheraGuide prototype and is working to deploy the platform through Apple’s TestFlight for beta evaluation. The company is now refining TheraGuide using feedback from clinical partners while preparing for pilot evaluations and potential future collaborations.
George believes the platform is coming at a critical time in healthcare, as the use of radiopharmaceuticals has seen significant growth in recent years.
“As radiopharmaceutical therapies continue to expand, we believe digital guidance tools can become an important part of helping patients safely manage their care outside the hospital,” George said.
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In addition to her background in journalism, Hannah also has patient-facing experience in clinical settings, having spent more than 12 years working as a registered rad tech. She began covering the medical imaging industry for Innovate Healthcare in 2021.