Investigation Of A New Electronic Portal Imaging Device For Radiation Therapy Dose Delivery Verification
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$408,101.00
Summary
In external beam radiotherapy highly complex radiation fields are used to deliver high doses of radiation to the tumour while sparing normal tissues. Inaccurate treatment could result in poor patient outcome or damage to normal tissues. We aim to investigate a novel imaging device to measure the dose accuracy of these fields. This work has the potential to make a significant and fundamental difference to existing verification techniques for radiotherapy treatments to ensure patient outcomes.
The Use Of Electronic Portal Imaging Devices For The Dosimetric Verification Of Complex Radiotherapy Treatments
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$260,949.00
Summary
The prognosis for someone diagnosed with cancer is much better than commonly believed. If detected early, malignant tumours are generally well localised. During these early stages of tumour growth high doses of radiation therapy can with a high probability, eradicate a cancer but come with the cost of causing unacceptable damage to normal tissue. A specific goal of improving the technology of radiation therapy is to reduce the probability of damage to normal tissue. Achieving this goal may allow ....The prognosis for someone diagnosed with cancer is much better than commonly believed. If detected early, malignant tumours are generally well localised. During these early stages of tumour growth high doses of radiation therapy can with a high probability, eradicate a cancer but come with the cost of causing unacceptable damage to normal tissue. A specific goal of improving the technology of radiation therapy is to reduce the probability of damage to normal tissue. Achieving this goal may allow delivery of higher doses with an associated increase in the chance of controlling the tumour. One of the challenges in radiation therapy is that tumours do not come in shapes that are easy to treat. Tumours extend into cavities and push aside healthy organs growing into complex 3D shapes. The careful shaping of the radiation beams to deliver dose distributions that match the 3D shape of the target is known as 3D conformal radiotherapy (3DCRT). Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT) is an advanced form of 3DCRT that allows the delivered dose to be closely tailored to the shape of complex tumour volumes while sparing neighbouring healthy tissues. One of the consequences of increasing the conformality of radiation therapy is an increased sensitivity to errors in the preparation and execution of the treatment. If the maximum gain in the treatment outcome using 3DCRT and IMRT techniques is to be achieved then it is crucial that the correct volume is treated to the correct dose on each day of the treatment. This requires new improved methods and techniques for verifying the daily delivery of the treatment. In this project we aim to develop the use of online digital imaging devices for measuring the delivered dose during treatment. This will increase the confidence with which these new conformal radiotherapy techniques can be delivered allowing their true potential for improving patient treatment outcomes to be realised.Read moreRead less
Improving Outcomes Of Radiotherapy Treatments Through In-vivo Dosimetric Verification
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$379,855.00
Summary
Radiotherapy remains an important non-surgical treatment for over 50 % of cancer patients. This project aims to develop methods that will enable the optimisation of the patients' treatment as it progresses by non-invasively measuring the radiation dose delivered each day. This will increase the likelihood of curing the patient as well as reducing the side effects experienced due to the treatment. This will improve the patients' quality of life post-treatment.