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SUMMARY:Tracking doses to material elements in radiotherapy treatment of c
 ancer - Karl Harrison
DTSTART:20141205T160000Z
DTEND:20141205T170000Z
UID:TALK55257@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Anna Walczyk
DESCRIPTION:Radiotherapy treatment of cancer is designed to deliver a leth
 al dose to a tumour\, while minimising collateral damage to surrounding he
 althy tissue.  The prescribed dose is typically administered in thirty to 
 forty treatment sessions\, over a period of about fifty days.  Patients ar
 e carefully positioned at each session\, to ensure that the tumour is accu
 rately targeted.  Possible changes in the position and shape of nearby hea
 lthy organs are not taken into account\, so that the dose to these organs 
 can be different from the dose originally planned.  The interdisciplinary 
 VoxTox project aims to track actual doses at the level of volume elements 
 (voxels)\, and to correlate with short-and long-term side effects (toxicit
 y).  This can potentially lead to improved treatment strategies\, which in
 crease survival probabilities\, and reduce long-term side-effects.  The in
 itial focus is on prostate cancer\, where the main treatment risk is damag
 e to the rectum.\n\nThis seminar presents dose-tracking methodologies bein
 g developed in the VoxTox project\, making use of low-resolution images fr
 om computed-tomography scans performed at treatment time to guide patient 
 positioning.  Progress is reported in areas that include: uncertainty esti
 mates for locating the rectum though manual and automated image segmentati
 on\; biomechanical modelling to understand the movement of material elemen
 ts\; dose recalculations\, taking into account changes in material distrib
 utions at each treatment session. 
LOCATION: Cambridge University Engineering Department\, Lecture Room 6
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