Biophysics Seminar

Proton therapy research at WPE: an overview of medical physics projects

by Dr Christian Bäumer Bäumer (Westdeutsches Protonentherapiezentrum Essen)

Europe/Berlin
Theory lecture hall SB3 3.170a (GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH)

Theory lecture hall SB3 3.170a

GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH

Planckstraße 1, 64291 Darmstadt
Description
Starting with a short introduction to the Westgerman Proton Therapy Centre Essen (WPE), the presentation gives an overview of the physics research projects performed at the WPE. Regarding the treatment of moving targets with the pencil-beam scanning delivery mode (PBS), we investigated the impact of robust optimization on the interplay effect for hepatocellular carcinoma. Furthermore, we investigated the benefits of proton PBS combined with collimating, field-specific apertures. We report about the clinical experience with this technique. We also answer the question if apertures shall be mounted upstream or downstream of a range shifting block and eventually explore the limits for the reduction of the lateral dose fall-off. The radioactivation in proton therapy was studied including the measurement of activation cross sections and the impact on post-irradiation field verification. We assessed the skin dose in PBS mode using ionization chambers, radiochromic films, TLDs, and Monte-Carlo simulations. An outlook will be given on funded research projects in the fields of Monte-Carlo simulations and radiobiology.