Tracking anatomical changes in CIRT patients

Wednesday 17 Apr 2024, 16:00 → 17:00 Europe/London

Pamela Ochoa-Parra (German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ))

Carbon ion radiotherapy (CIRT) is used to treat head and neck tumors due to its unique physical and biological properties. Monitoring methods are of high interest in CIRT to ensure safety and efficacy due to the treatment's sensitivity to anatomical changes. Our research group has developed an in-vivo monitoring method for CIRT that uses silicon pixel detectors to track secondary nuclear charged fragments. A non-contact fragment tracking device with seven mini-trackers based on CERN's Timepix3 technology has been developed. This tracking technology is currently being utilized in the In-Vivo Monitoring (InViMo) prospective clinical study, which aims to monitor therapies in patients with head and neck cancers at the Heidelberg Ion Therapy Center (HIT). During the seminar, our in-vivo monitoring method for CIRT will be presented. Additionally, the FLUKA Monte Carlo simulation of the In-Vivo detection system and its efficacy in monitoring inter-fractional anatomical changes among patients undergoing CIRT will be discussed. These simulations were conducted utilizing HIT's in-house FLUKA Monte Carlo framework, which offers benchmarked simulations tailored for CIRT clinical treatment plans. Our simulation incorporated the seven Timepix3-based trackers constituting the InViMo detection system. Furthermore, we will present results from retrospective patients who underwent CIRT, illustrating the effectiveness of FLUKA MC simulations in accurately modeling and monitoring anatomical changes at HIT.

16:00 → 17:00 Seminar