Quality Assurance of Advanced Radiation Therapy Hands-on course

Transcription

1 Quality Assurance of Advanced Radiation Therapy Hands-on course You have a bachelor s degree or higher and want to boost your skills in Quality Assurance. We offer professionals involved in QA of RT a programme complementary to their basic training in radiotherapy. The module (course) is part of the MSc course Radiation Oncology in Europe. Introduction to the course The various and rapid developments in the field of 3D imaging, treatment planning and treatment delivery have lead to more accurate and optimal radiotherapy (RT) treatments. Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT) is an example of such a recent innovation and has been implemented in many radiotherapy clinics. During this course the RT professional will acquire the necessary knowledge and skills to perform state-of-the-art Quality Assurance of Advanced Radiation Therapy (QAART) techniques, with special focus on IMRT, including VMAT and RapidArc. The course QAART has been developed by the research group Medical Technology of University (InhU) of Applied Sciences, together with professionals from the RT departments of the Medical Centre Alkmaar (MCA), the Netherlands Cancer Institute Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital (NKI-AVL), Radiotherapy Centre West (RC West), the University Medical Centre Utrecht (UMCU) and the Vrije Universiteit medical centre (VUmc). This course is the core part of a complete educational module but can be followed separately. The course itself will be given in collaboration with four companies that produce QA equipment. The aim is an intensive course with optimum interaction between students and teachers. Therefore the number of participants will be restricted to 30, including the students that follow the complete module. Content Interactive teaching sessions, focused on situations in clinical practice, are an important part of the course. During four morning sessions various experts from renowned RT departments will share their experience in QA of advanced RT. Subjects discussed will be a.o.: guidelines for QA, methods of dose difference analysis, IMRT dose calculations and delivery techniques, EPID and film dosimetry, QA of VMAT and RapidArc, digital systems for 2-D dosimetry, QA of MLC systems and small field dosimetry. The core parts of the course are practical hands-on sessions, QA labs, given by a team of experts in the field in cooperation with the companies. In four afternoon sessions the participants will analyse data using various commercial software packages on laptop systems. In two half-day sessions on Saturday the participants will perform measurements using a variety of QA equipment on linear accelerators. They will be guided by experts from the RT-departments and the companies. The hands- on exercises include the analysis of film dosimetry data, the performance of independent dose calculations, the use of various software packages for 1D, 2D and 3D IMRT verification and the clinical application of equipment for 2D and 3D verification of various IMRT techniques including VMAT and RapidArc. In this way experience and insight will be gained in the various ways to perform QA of IMRT techniques for various tumour sites in daily clinical practice.

2 QAART Hands-on course 2 Target group and aims The course is suitable for students with a bachelor s degree or higher who have some experience in QA of RT Potential participants include medical physicists (in training), dosimetrists, medical engineers and specialized radiation therapy technologists (RTTs), working in RT departments. Physicists, engineers or RTTs working for companies producing RT products will also benefit from this course. After completion of the course the student will be able to: - perform QA checks of IMRT treatment plans, multi-beam and rotational, using state-of-the-art methods; - understand the principles of QA of advanced treatment planning and delivery techniques including RapidArc and VMAT; - estimate the influence of various parameters on the accuracy of the treatment delivery process; - critically analyse the possibilities and limitations of present day equipment for patient treatment verification; - appraise the recent developments in QA of RT. Organizers and teachers The course is organised by the Academy (www. inholland.nl/academy) together with the research group Medical Technology of InhU. The course coordinators are Iain Bruinvis and Jelle Scheurleer. The teaching faculty consists of medical physicists, medical engineers from the RT departments of the MCA, NKI-AVL, RC West, UMCU and VUmc. RT-product company experts from,, Scandidos and, will also participate in the Saturday hands-on sessions. The course will be held in the English language. Further Information For more information about the course please contact: - Iain Bruinvis Iain.Bruinvis@inholland.nl phone Jelle Scheurleer Jelle.Scheurleer@inholland.nl phone For all practical information, including accommodation and public transport from Amsterdam railway station and airport to the course venue, please contact the secretariat of the course: - Nel Koppenol academy@inholland.nl. phone: +31(0) Type Hands-on course Level post-graduate Prijs 930 Duration From Tuesday 9 April untill Saturday 13 April 2013 Studyload 40 hours Venue 1) Inhollland University of Applied Sciences, Haarlem, The Netherlands (Tuesday - Friday) 2) Netherlands Cancer Institute - Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital, VUmc Medical Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (Saturday) Registration by to academy@inholland.nl by phone: +31(0) Academy PO-Box AK Alkmaar, The Netherlands T +31(0) / T +31(0) F +31(0)

3 Hands-on course Quality Assurance of Advanced Radiation Therapy Coordinators: Advisors: Locations: Dates: Iain Bruinvis and Jelle Scheurleer Ben Mijnheer and Johan Cuijpers University of Applied Sciences, Haarlem Netherlands Cancer Institute Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital, Amsterdam Vrije Universiteit medical centre, Amsterdam THE NETHERLANDS Tuesday 09-APR-2013 Saturday 13-APR-2013

4 Tuesday 09-APR :30 09:00 Registration 09:00 09:15 Introduction to the course Iain Bruinvis 09:15 09:45 IMRT and the need for QA Johan Cuijpers 09:45 10:30 Prospective risk analysis Luc Bos 11:00 11:45 QA of MLC systems Thijs Perik 11:45 12:30 Methods for dose difference analysis Johan Cuijpers 13:30 16:30 Hands-on: software 16:30 17:00 Discussion results hands-on 17:00 19:00 Welcome party Wednesday 10-APR :00 09:45 Issues in IMRT dose calculations Phil Koken 09:45 10:30 EPID dosimetry: principles & approaches Anton Mans / Ben Mijnheer 11:00 11:45 EPID dosimetry: clinical experiences Anton Mans 11:45 12:30 Film dosimetry: theoretical aspects Leo van Battum 13:30 16:30 Hands-on: Scandidos software 16:30 17:00 Discussion results hands-on

5 Thursday 11-APR :00 09:45 Digital systems for 2D dosimetry Marjan Dwarswaard 09:45 10:30 IMRT delivery techniques André Minken 11:00 11:45 QA of VMAT Jochem Wolthaus 11:45 12:30 QA of Tomotherapy André Minken 13:30 16:30 Hands-on: software Marjan Dwarswaard 16:30 17:00 Discussion results hands-on Marjan Dwarswaard Friday 12-APR :00 09:15 Practical info Saturday programme Iain Bruinvis 09:15 10:00 Small field dosimetry Frits Wittkämper 10:00 10:30 NCS report IMRT QA: overview Jeroen van der Kamer 11:00 11:45 Independent MU calculations Martijn Kusters 11:45 12:30 Patient specific QA Jeroen van der Kamer 13:30 16:30 Hands-on: software 16:30 17:00 Discussion results hands-on

6 Saturday 13-APR :00-10:15 10:15-10:30 Coffee break 10:30-11:45 HANDS-ON WORK AT THE LINAC Using equipment / group A1 Using equipment / group A2 Using equipment / group A1 Using equipment / group A2 11:45-12:45 Lunch break and transfer to VUmc 12:45-14:00 14:00-15:15 15:15-15:45 Coffee break Using equipment / group B1 Using equipment / group B2 Using equipment / group B1 Using equipment / group B2 NKI-AVL 15:45-16:30 Evaluation of the course and closure Ben Mijnheer Saturday 13-APR :00-10:15 10:15-10:30 Coffee break 10:30-11:45 HANDS-ON WORK AT THE LINAC Using equipment / group B1 Using Scandidos equipment / group B2 Using Scandidos equipment group B1 Using equipment / group B2 11:45-12:45 Transfer to NKI-AVL and lunch break 12:45-14:00 14:00-15:15 15:15-15:45 Coffee break Using equipment / group A1 Using Scandidos equipment / group A2 Using Scandidos equipment / group A1 Using equipment / group A2 15:45-16:30 Evaluation of the course and closure Iain Bruinvis VUmc