Hands-on course Quality Assurance of Advanced Radiation Therapy

Transcription

1 Hands-on course Quality Assurance of Advanced Radiation Therapy Coordinators: Iain Bruinvis and Jelle Scheurleer Advisor: Ben Mijnheer Dates: 17-APR-2012 to 21-APR-2012 Venues: University of Applied Sciences, Haarlem; Netherlands Cancer Institute Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital, Amsterdam; Vrije Universiteit medical centre, Amsterdam; THE NETHERLANDS Introduction 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. 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. Target group and aims The course is suitable for professionals 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. 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. After completion of the hands-on course the participants 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;

2 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. Contents 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 handson 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. Organisers and teachers The course is organised by the Academy ( together with the research group Medical Technology ( of InhU. The course coordinators are Iain Bruinvis and Jelle Scheurleer; Ben Mijnheer (NKI-AVL) is course advisor. 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. Practical data The hands-on course starts on Tuesday morning 17-APR-2012 and ends on Saturday afternoon 21- APR All teaching sessions during the week will take place at the School of Health, InhU, Haarlem and the practical sessions on Saturday will take place at the RT-departments of the NKI-AVL and VUmc. Registration for the course should be done by to [email protected] before 30-MAR-2012 (maximum number of participants 30). After registration an invoice will be sent for the fee of 900. This fee includes course material, coffee, lunches and a welcome reception. Further information For more information about the course please contact Iain Bruinvis ( [email protected] phone ), or Jelle Scheurleer ( [email protected] phone ). For all practical information, including accommodation in hotels, public transport from Amsterdam railway station and airport to the course venue, please contact the secretariat of the course: Caja Sölvik, University of Applied Sciences, Academy, Bergerweg 200, 1817 MN Alkmaar, The Netherlands. [email protected], telephone:

3 Hands-on course Quality Assurance of Advanced Radiation Therapy Coordinators: Advisor: Locations: Dates: Iain Bruinvis and Jelle Scheurleer Ben Mijnheer University of Applied Sciences, Haarlem Netherlands Cancer Institute Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital, Amsterdam Vrije Universiteit medical centre, Amsterdam THE NETHERLANDS Tuesday 17-APR-2012 Saturday 21-APR-2012

4 Tuesday 17-APR-12 09:30 10:00 Introduction to the course Iain Bruinvis / Jelle Scheurleer 10:00 10:30 IMRT and the need for QA Johan Cuijpers 10:30 11:00 Coffee break 11:00 11:30 Guidelines for QA of TPS Iain Bruinvis 11:30 12:15 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 18-APR-12 09:30 10:15 Issues in IMRT dose calculation Iain Bruinvis 10:15 10:45 EPID dosimetry: principles Anton Mans 10:45 11:15 Coffee break 11:15 11:45 EPID dosimetry: clinical experience 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 19-APR-12 09:30 10:00 IMRT delivery techniques André Minken 10:00 10:30 Introduction to VMAT Jochem Wolthaus 10:30 11:00 Coffee break 11:00 11:30 QA of VMAT Jochem Wolthaus 11:30 12:00 QA of Tomotherapy André Minken 12:00 12:30 Digital systems for 2D dosimetry Marjan Dwarswaard 13:30 16:30 Hands-on: software Marjan Dwarswaard 16:30 17:00 Discussion results hands-on Marjan Dwarswaard Friday 20-APR-12 09:30 10:00 QA of MLC systems 10:00 10:30 Small field dosimetry Stan Heukelom 10:30 11:00 Coffee break 11:00 11:30 Independent dose calculations Markus Wendling 11:30 12:00 AAPM activities on QA of advanced RT Markus Wendling 12:00 12:30 Practical info Saturday programme Iain Bruinvis 13:30 16:30 Hands-on: software 16:30 17:00 Discussion results hands-on

6 Saturday 21-APR-12 09:00-10:15 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 Iain Bruinvis Saturday 21-APR-12 09:00-10:15 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 VUmc 15:45-16:30 Evaluation of the course and closure Jelle Scheurleer