'We are going to make world's best eye radiation line'

'I think that we can establish the best eye radiation chain in the world. Not because our equipment is the best, but our entire chain is.'

Coen Rasch, holding the position of a radiotherapy professor at LUMC, has recently been appointed as a Medical Delta professor at Delft University of Technology. In Delft, he works at HollandPTC, an outpatient center where patients can undergo proton therapy, and research is conducted.

You have been appointed as a Medical Delta professor. What does that mean for you?

'I see it as a task and an invitation to strengthen the triangle of LUMC, Erasmus MC, and TU Delft in the field of radiotherapy and oncology. Additionally, I consider it recognition of what I already am doing - collaborating and developing products, especially in the field of physics, with Delft and Rotterdam.'

What would you like to strengthen?

'I feel there is more potential in the connection between TU Delft and HollandPTC. I think it would be beneficial to use this momentum together with Remi Nout from Erasmus MC and fellow Medical Delta professor Mischa Hoogeman from TU Delft so that several Principal Investigators from Delft become more involved. Although HollandPTC is located on the TU Delft campus, it has a clear clinical aspect. That is unusual for a technical university. It offers unique opportunities that can be further utilized.

I hope the research lines for the development of equipment progress and are completed, so that we can eventually have the best eye radiation line in the world. It will take some time, but it is truly step-by-step. Several innovations could come from Delft, so those in Delft must be aware of what's happening at HollandPTC and join in where they can.'

Read the full interview on the Medical Delta website.