IMAGE-GUIDED RADIOTHERAPY IN CLINICAL PRACTICE
Lausanne • Switzerland
18-22 November 2012

Teachers

Marianne Aznar, Physicist, The Finsen Center-Righospitalet, Copenhagen (DK)  
Rianne de Jong, RTT, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam (NL)
Gert de Meerleer, Radiation Oncologist, UniversitairZiekenhuis, Ghent (BE)
Matthias Guckenberger, Radiation Oncologist, Julius-Maximilians University, Würzburg (DE)
Helen McNair, Technologist, The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, London (GB)
Uwe Oelfke, Physicist, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg (DE)
Coen Rasch, Radiation Oncologist, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam (NL)
Jan-Jakob Sonke, Physicist, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam (NL)
Marcel van Herk, Physicist, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam (NL)

Local organiser

Raphael Moeckli, Physicist, Institut de Radiophysique Appliquée, Lausanne (CH)

Course aims 

• To cover both theoretical and practical aspects related to the clinical implementation of in-room imaging in radiotherapy
• To review imaging techniques that can be applied in the workflow of conformal radiotherapy and understand how individual links in the chain of events will influence clinical outcome (from treatment prescription to preparation & planning, to patient set-up & verification and finally follow-up).
• To identify potential sources of errors in target delineation/ localisation and how IGRT can be of help, with special emphasis on conformal radiotherapy, intensity modulated radiotherapy and management of organ motion.
• To understand the concept “target delineation – target localisation” at each particular step in the treatment chain and identify appropriate techniques to increase both efficiency as well as efficacy.
• To offer an overview of available technologies and how to integrate these in clinical practice.
• To compare available technologies and help define applicability for particular use.
• To understand the functionality of the equipment and technology, and identify limitations of a particular method.
• To learn establishing an efficient image-guided work- flow through optimal integration of available technologies and understand the importance of teamwork and training.
• QA of IGRT systems 

Target Group 

The course is aimed at all professionals in the field of radiation oncology that are involved in target localisation at any point in the treatment chain, this includes radiation oncologists, radiation physicists, and radiation technologists. A good understanding of issues related to target delineation, target localisation and patient set-up is a prerequisite as well as some experience in the field. As the emphasis will be on integration of IGRT techniques and practical implementation, the “team effort” is important and simultaneous participation of physicists, radiation oncologists and radiation technologists is strongly encouraged.

Educational programme 

This is a 5-day course organized to identify the influence of image guidance at important steps in the workflow of radiation therapy. The following items will be covered in view of in-room imaging for therapy guidance:

• Image guidance required for treatment prescription
• Image guidance in treatment preparation and treatment planning
• Image guidance in patient set-up and target localisation during treatment
• Image guidance in treatment follow-up

Small workshops will be organized on Monday and Tuesday to cover specific techniques using film and demo material of the available commercial systems. The format will be based on interactive discussion sessions between the company vendors, representative users, teachers and participants.

On Sunday 18 November, site visits are planned to provide the participants with hands-on experience including different commercially available systems. Because no patients are treated on Sunday, practical hands-on will be emphasized. When registering for the course, details on hosting sites will be available online and during the registration process you will be asked to indicate your preference in order to enable the organisation of the visits.