A company spun out of UNC-Chapel Hill received a $2 million grant to commercialize its 3-D mapping technology that improves radiation treatment of prostate cancer.

The National Cancer Institute grant will allow Morphormics to get its technology, which creates anatomical road maps of patients, ready for use in people. The maps will allow physicians to better target radiation treatment and avoid sensitive organs.

Because the software systems used to create the maps are considered medical devices, the company will require approval from the Food and Drug Administration. Morphormics expects to seek regulatory approval next year, said Edward L. Chaney, a professor at UNC-Chapel Hill's department of radiation oncology.

"We'll reduce the cost and improve the accuracy" of treating prostate cancer, Chaney said. "That's where the value of this technology is."

Chaney co-founded Morphormics in 2001 with Stephen M. Pizer, Kenan professor in the departments of computer science and radiation oncology, and Sarang Joshi, who is now at the University of Utah. The company employs 11, including several consultants and is moving to larger offices at the Quadrangle business park in Chapel Hill this month.

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