4 minute read
An innovation business puts the customer first
Despite the ongoing flux arising from the COVID-19 restrictions, RaySearch has maintained its focus on long-term growth opportunities, releasing two new products at the end of 2020: the RayCommand®*treatment control system (TCS) and the RayIntelligence® oncology analytics and machine learning platform. For Deputy CEO Björn Hårdemark, it helps that core business functions adapted swiftly and effectively to the new model of remote working – though he’s already anticipating a return to face-to-face collaboration with colleagues and customers as RaySearch gears up for the move into its new RayLab headquarters later next year.
While the company has maintained impressive momentum in terms of production capacity over the past 12 months, it’s evident that Hårdemark and the senior management team are starting to miss those informal conversations and serendipitous connections that only happen when people spend time together in the same office – rather than on a video conference. “We’re an innovation business,” Hårdemark explains, “and while working remotely is fine for the regular day-to-day R&D activity, there is a dryness when it comes to brain-storming and working out genuinely innovative ideas. The new RayLab building presents a fantastic opportunity in this regard – a working environment hardwired to encourage internal collaboration and engagement with partners and customers.”
COMMAND AND CONTROL Throughout 2021, Hårdemark and the RaySearch business development team are focused on building market visibility and engagement for the newly launched RayCommand and RayIntelligence – albeit with two very distinct customer segments. RayCommand, for example, is RaySearch’s first B2B software product and, as such, is being positioned as a general-purpose TCS to support new-entrant vendors in the radiotherapy equipment market. Put simply, RayCommand offers unified management and control of key systems in the radiotherapy treatment room – the treatment machine, treatment couch, imaging systems and patient positioning devices. All of which translates into a more consistent user experience and enhanced workflow efficiency – regardless of the type of treatment machine.
“RayCommand represents a logical division of labor and a significant market efficiency,” notes Hårdemark. “We’ve had a lot of interest already from alternative radiotherapy OEMs who are keen to integrate our TCS rather than build their own.” Their interest is not unexpected given that RayCommand is the result of a three-year R&D collaboration involving one of those alternative vendors – Advanced Oncotherapy (AVO), a UK-based developer of next-generation proton therapy systems. Like AVO, early-adopting customers can see that it makes little commercial sense to reinvent the wheel, with all the investment and resource that’s needed to develop a new TCS from scratch.
Another key development partner is MedAustron, an Austrian cancer center specializing in proton and carbon-ion therapy. Here the radiation oncology team is currently road-testing RayCommand in a clinical setting, the ultimate goal being to link up the RayStation treatment planning system (TPS) and RayCare®* oncology information system (OIS) in an all-RaySearch software installation. Put another way: a unified user experience that provides a transferable template for future clinical deployments of RayCommand.
In terms of the product roadmap, Hårdemark is optimistic about the long-run commercial opportunity for the new TCS. “We’re investing heavily in RayCommand functionality over the next few releases,” he notes, “and we think it will ultimately make sense to open up sales conversations with the more established radiotherapy OEMs as well.”
INTELLIGENT ONCOLOGY Meanwhile, data-driven oncology and machine learning provide the raison d’être for the introduction of RayIntelligence. This cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform will enable oncology clinics to collect, structure and analyze their diverse and often siloed data sources to enhance – and ultimately personalize – the planning, optimization and management of cutting-edge cancer treatments.
Currently RayIntelligence comprises two core building blocks: RayData delivers large-scale data aggregation, storage and search functionality, while RayAnalytics provides structuring, transformation and dashboarding of data for easier consumption by end-users. Also in the works is RayMachine, a pipeline for training, versioning, validation and approval of machine learning models across the oncology workflow.
“RayIntelligence offers coherent evolution and diversification of our software portfolio,” notes Hårdemark. “The cloud-based implementation provides a natural home for data analytics and machine learning capabilities, allowing RayIntelligence to connect seamlessly with RayStation and RayCare – observing, collecting and learning in the process.”
At a more granular level, RayIntelligence provides users with tools for deep analysis of trends and performance, dashboards for an at-a-glance overview of clinical activities, while the structured data enables clinics to define datasets that are suitable for training machine learning models. Another innovation is the commercial model, with access to RayIntelligence via an annual subscription that allows customers to start using RayIntelligance without the need for an upfront capital investment.
“One thing is clear,” concludes Hårdemark. “With the launch of RayCommand and RayIntelligence, we’re really seeing where the boundaries lie between our different software products and how these products should interface in the best possible way. What’s more, because the products share a lot of common building blocks, we are now working toward the concept of ‘RayWorld’ – a system of interlinked software components that form the basis for our different products as well as integration points for products from our many industrial partners.”
