PHYSICAL BASIS OF RADIOTHERAPY
- Overview
- Assessment methods
- Learning objectives
- Contents
- Delivery method
- Teaching methods
- Contacts/Info
A general knowledge of atomic and nuclear physics is appreciated.
The final examination is an oral one and consists in a discussion on the different topics treated during the course.
The students have to prove:
- the knowledge of the principles of the interaction of radiation with biological matter
- the skills in describing dose distributions, how they are measured and characterized
- the capability to compare the different treatment methods, starting from their features
- the adequate technical language.
The remarkable progress in radiation therapy over the last decades has been largely due to the ability to more effectively focus and deliver radiation to the tumour target volume. Physics discoveries and technology improvements have been an important driving force behind this progress.
The course aims to give students an understanding of the application of physics to the modern radiotherapy. It is designed to enable the student to develop a broad and balanced appreciation of this important area of contemporary medicine and its correlated aspects.
At the end of the course, students will be able to:
- describe the interaction of radiation with biological matter
- analyze the methods of dose measurement and calculation, defining the parameters characterizing the dose distributions
- describe the radiotherapy procedures with electron, photon and hadron beams, comparing critically the different methods
The course starts with a history of the first treatments of cancer with ionizing radiation and with some references to radiation-matter interaction processes. It is then described the production of photon, electron and hadron beams: form X-ray tubes to linear/circular accelerators.
Then the course highlights on:
• methods of measurement and calculation of the dose in a homogeneous and inhomogeneous medium (from Bragg–Gray cavity theory to modern dosimeters)
• analysis of dose distributions with definitions and related parameters
• treatment plans with photon beams in both homogeneous and anthropomorphic phantoms with hints to 3DCRT, IMRT, VMAT, IGRT, ART techniques. Highlights on the most modern delivery systems.
• methods for evaluation and comparison of treatments with particular reference to international protocols (ICRU reports).
• features and radiotherapy procedures with electron beams
• features and radiotherapy procedures with hadron beams (p and C)
• notes on radiobiology applied to radiotherapy with assessing the growth and proliferation of cancer cells, dose-response and dose-time, linear quadratic model and the response and tolerance of healthy tissueto radiation
• notes on Brachytherapy: sources, main methods of calculation of the dose and treatment techniques
Frontal lessons, lectures, and discussions.
For questions/discussion/comments, students are invited to contact the teacher via email at the following address: angelofilippo.monti@ospedaleniguarda.it
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Degree course in: PHYSICS