Alex Grimwood - joint CMIC-WEISS seminar series

Alex Grimwood

Title: Ultrasound motion management in radiotherapy: current imaging practices and future developments

Abstract: Radiotherapy harnesses radiation to treat cancer. High doses of radiation are applied to a treatment site within the patient, destroying cancer cells and shrinking tumours. At the same time, healthy tissues must be spared from such doses to protect against unwanted toxicities and secondary cancers. A primary goal in modern radiotherapy is the development of image guidance techniques to “See what we treat while we treat”. In doing so, image guidance improves tissue sparing, enabling higher doses to be directed at the cancer site. However, conventional radiotherapy imaging has its limitations and is often unable to detect patient motion, or adequately resolve soft tissues. In this seminar, I will discuss the use of ultrasound imaging in radiotherapy to overcome some of these limitations. I will describe research into automating motion management and introduce some early work in progress from a collaboration between CMIC and the Institute of Cancer Research.