UM SOM Scientists Improve Measurement of Excess Radiation in Proton Therapy

One of the key factors in developing better treatment accuracy is the ability to see what is happening inside the patient. New imaging techniques can be as important as the treatment methods themselves. Scientists from University of Maryland School of Medicine (UM SOM)are working with software that able to visualize the dose that is delivered from a proton beam by measuring the gamma rays that are produced from the radiation interacting with tissue from the body.

“This is potentially a big step forward for radiotherapy,” said the technique’s lead developer, Jerimy C. Polf, PhD, an Assistant Professor in Radiation Oncology at UM SOM. “Using this approach we can better verify that we’re hitting only the area that we want to hit.”

This work will be valuable for the new proton center, Maryland Proton Treatment Center (MPTC), which is scheduled to begin treating patients in 2015. See more here: Maryland Proton Treatment Center

Read the FULL ARTICLE here.
The results are also published in the latest issue of Physics in Medicine and Biology.