Enseignement académique : Physics technologies in medicine

Monday 24 January
The frontiers of medical imaging
M. GILARDI / Univ. of Milano, I.

The lecture will deal with the evolution of diagnostic imaging techniques, focussing on tomographic methods (x rays Computerized Tomography, CT, Magnetic Resonance Imaging. MRI, Positron Emission Tomography, PET). The physical parameters characterizing the performance of current generation scanners and their potential future improvement will be discussed.

The clinical diagnostic value of multi modal imaging and the relevance of image fusion to image guided radiotherapy will be also presented.


Tuesday 25 January
From the discovery of X-rays to CT/PET diagnostics and conformal radiation therapy
U. AMALDI / Univ. of Milano Bicocca and TERA Foundation

Medical physics, as all modern physics, started in 1895 with the discovery of X-rays, that opened the way to long lasting applications in medical diagnosys and cancer therapy. The developments, to be described in the first part of the lecture, have taken more than a century and have brought to Computer Tomography (CT) and to Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT). In the years 1930's medical physics had a second boost with the discovery of artificial radioactivity and the invention of the cyclotron. Since then in diagnostics one has seen the introduction of SPET (Single Photon Emission Tomography) and PET (Positron Emission Tomography). Cancer therapy has been the second field of great developments. The last part of the lecture will describe the status of hadrontherapy, that uses beams of either protons or carbon ions to deliver very conformal doses to deep seated tumour targets.


Wednesday 26 January
The increased biological effectiveness of heavy charged particle radiation: from cell culture experiments to biophysics modelling
M. SCHOLZ / GSI, Darmstadt, D.

One of the major advantages of heavy ion tumor therapy is the increased relative biological effectiveness (RBE) of particle beams in particular at the end of their penetration depth, i.e. in the tumor volume. This increased effectiveness has to be taken into account for treatment planning. The RBE cannot be represented by a single number, but depends in a complex way on different factors like e.g. ion type and energy, depth in tissue, dose level and the tissue type. For applications of ion beams in tumour therapy, the increased RBE requires a corresponding general reduction in dose. In particular, due to the variation of RBE with depth, the shape of the depth dose profile has to be adapted accordingly.

In the first part, the lecture will summarize the essential radiobiological aspects, which have been extensively studied within the framework of heavy ion tumour therapy projects. The second part then will focus on the theoretical modelling of the radiobiological effects of charged particle beams, which is required for the implementation of a biologically optimized treatment planning.


Thursday 27 January
Medical Physics aspects of radiotherapy with ions
O. JÄKEL / Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, Heidelberg, D

In December 1997, a radiotherapy facility for carbon ions began clinical operation at GSI and 230 patients were treated there until mid 2004. It is the first facility that established beam scanning and active energy variation for the beam delivery of ions. The work is performed in collaboration with the University of Heidelberg and the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ). The medical physics aspects of the project, like beam delivery, dosimetry of ions beams and virtual therapy planning will be presented together with the latest clinical results. An outlook on the design and status of the hospital based ion facility, that is currently being built in Heidelberg, will be given.


The lectures are open to all those interested, without application.
The abstract of the lectures, as well as any change to the above information (title, dates, time, place etc.) will be published in the CERN bulletin and in the WWW.

ENSEIGNEMENT ACADEMIQUE
ACADEMIC TRAINING
Françoise Benz 73127
academic.training@cern.ch

Si vous désirez participer à l'un des cours suivants, veuillez en discuter avec votre superviseur et vous inscrire électroniquement en direct depuis les pages de description des cours dans le Web que vous trouvez à l'adresse : http://www.cern.ch/Training/ ou remplissez une « demande de formation » disponible auprès du Secrétariat de votre Division ou de votre DTO (Délégué divisionnaire à la formation). Les places seront attribuées dans l'ordre de réception des inscriptions.

par Françoise Benz