IOMP SCHOOL WEBINARS 2024

Advances in AI are going to affect all aspects of radiation therapy, including contouring, treatment planning, and quality assurance. This presentation describes efforts to develop and expand AI tools specifically for clinics in low- and middle-income countries, covering expected quality and efficiency gains of these tools, possible risks in deployment and how to mitigate them, and lessons learned in clinical deployment.

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) remain the gold standard for establishing causality between an intervention and a clinical outcome. Medical physicists play an essential role in reducing patient-to-patient variability in exposure. Key roles include defining the technical details of the radiotherapy approach, independent credentialling of centres, developing QA programs, supporting automated data collection and curation, and developing trial questions that identify the role of techniques or technologies in improving outcomes.

A short introduction presenting IOMP’s role in enhancing radiation safety across medical practices globally, key areas of focus in ionizing radiation medical exposure, and the importance of collecting data related to frequency, distribution, and trends of radiation usage in medical diagnostics and treatment.

A detailed presentation focusing on the comprehensive UNSCEAR 2020/2021 Report: "Evaluation of Medical Exposure to Ionizing Radiation." The webinar equips participants with insights into the global state of medical radiation practices, advancements in the field, and upcoming UNSCEAR evaluations.

This seminar explores the latest developments in imaging technologies for optimizing radiation therapy treatments. Topics include fundamentals of imaging modalities (X-ray, CT, MRI, PET, ultrasound), image acquisition and reconstruction techniques, image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT), adaptive radiotherapy, and functional imaging for treatment response assessment.

Patient-specific quality assurance (PSQA) in IMRT is an important step to ensure treatment accuracy and patient safety. The presentation covers the choice of detectors for point dose and 2D dose distribution measurements, use of AAPM TG-218 for PSQA analysis with 3%/2mm gamma criteria, and tips, tricks, and new trends in PSQA.

Radiation therapy is a multi-disciplinary, multi-step treatment using complex equipment and techniques. Variations above 5% of dose can lead to significant changes in local control or complication rates. This presentation reviews the rationale for quality assurance in radiation therapy, the particular requirements of RT versus radiation protection, the steps to build a QA system, and examples of continuous improvement.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a highly aggressive malignancy and a leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. A novel alpha-emitting radioimmunoconjugate, 225Ac-DOTA-C595, was developed to target PDAC by binding to cancer-specific mucin 1 epitopes (MUC1-CE), which is overexpressed on over 90% of PDAC tissues. A series of in vitro assays were performed to evaluate cell binding, internalisation and cytotoxicity, establishing the feasibility of using this radioimmunoconjugate for PDAC treatment.

Dr. Cetnar shares her research journey in ultra-high dose rate (FLASH) radiation therapy, including commissioning of new technology, exploration of dosimetry methods, and biological experiments at two ultra-high dose rate generating devices at Ohio State. She also discusses her pathway to completing a PhD in Education and her passion for medical physics education research.

A personal reflection on how passion and love for what you do transforms a career in medical physics. Leticia shares her journey from physics student to clinical medical physicist and leader, demonstrating that progress is made by simply getting started and embracing the opportunities that come along the way.

At ASTRO 2023, LAP launched the new LUNA 3D SGRT system, supporting reproducible patient positioning and monitoring patient surface motion at LINACs and CTs. LUNA 3D streamlines workflows with a browser-based interface, features a virtual laser for swift patient setup, utilizes high-resolution stereoscopic CMOS cameras with GPU-powered calculations for accuracy and low latency, and engages patients through a coaching screen for precise dose delivery.

Sun Nuclear has been delivering independent quality assurance to the radiation treatment industry for 40 years, serving over 5,000 facilities worldwide. This presentation provides insights into key products including SunCHECK®, highlighting how they reduce risk, control costs, and improve treatment quality.

This presentation explores how advancements in the movie, video game, and smartphone industries have contributed to progress in radiation oncology. Topics include: how visual effects in the movie industry enabled synthetic training data for machine learning in RT; how smartphones enabled new 3D scanning methods (LiDAR, photogrammetry, NERF) for TBI, TSET, brachytherapy, and 3D printed bolus; how augmented reality revolutionized visualization of medical imaging data; and how GPU technology has impacted deep learning segmentation, auto planning, and large language models in medical physics.