Healthy Lungs at Work Quiz
New research fuelled by our community is unlocking new possibilities in lung cancer treatment.
Every breath a lung cancer patient takes moves their lungs — and their tumour. Even a few millimetres can mean radiation misses the cancer or damages healthy tissue.
But thanks to the generosity of our community, Dr Nicholas Hindley, an early-career researcher at the University of Sydney’s Image X Institute, has developed an innovative way to make radiation therapy more accurate and personalised.
His project; From relativity to respiration, led to the creation of Voxelmap — an artificial intelligence system that predicts how tumours move during treatment and adapts radiation in real time.
Because of your generosity, this project has already achieved incredible results:
Developed Voxelmap, an open-source AI framework for tracking lung movement during radiation therapy.
Achieved remarkable precision, tracking tumour motion within just a few millimetres and reducing unnecessary radiation to healthy tissue by around 30%.
Demonstrated that this technology can be used on standard treatment machines.
Released the open-source Voxelmap framework so research teams worldwide can build on this work, accelerating global progress in cancer care.
Recognised with the Catalyst for Change Award at the NSW Cancer Summit — the highest honour of the event.
Secured over $1 million in additional research funding to expand and continue this innovative work.
This breakthrough could change the future of lung cancer treatment by:
Making therapy more precise and personalised.
Reducing side effects and long-term damage to healthy organs.
Improving equity of access for all Australians, no matter where they live.
These early results are already inspiring further studies to refine imaging accuracy and extend the technology to other cancers — paving the way for clinical use across multiple diseases.
And this is only the beginning. Nick’s work is part of a much broader commitment — since 2020, Lung Foundation Australia has invested over $21 million in research to improve prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care for all lung diseases and lung cancer.
Lung Foundation Australia focuses on supporting early and mid-career researchers — because the right support at the right time can change everything.
“This funding didn’t just support my research — it saved my career. It allowed me to keep doing what I love and to make a real difference for people living with lung cancer. To everyone who donates to Lung Foundation Australia — thank you. Your support means more than you know.”
Your generosity ensures that bright, dedicated minds can stay in research and continue finding better ways to treat, manage and ultimately prevent lung disease and lung cancer.
Thank you for making breakthroughs like this possible. Together, we’re giving every Australian the chance to breathe easier.
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