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Radiation Physics
Radiation Physics theme broadly represents research programs in radiation oncology physics, basic dosimetry, radiation detectors, Monte Carlo simulations ...Read more -
Imaging & Image Processing in Medical Physics
This theme deals with projects having image technologies and processing with applications in medical physics as main component but also contain ...Read more -
Radiation Response & Bio-nano Science
There is a growing relation between Theme 1 & 2 combined and theme 3, where advanced radiation therapy treatments are associated try, ...Read more
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Shirin Enger
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Assistant Professor
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McGill University, Medical Physics Unit
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514-934-1934, x45302
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shirin.enger@mcgill.ca
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http://www.mcgill.ca/medphys/
TBA; TBA; TBA
TBA .
TBA .
Recent publications:- Adams QE, Xu J, Breitbach EK, Li X, Enger SA, Rockey WR, Kim Y, Wu X, Flynn RT. Interstitial rotating shield brachytherapy for prostate cancer. Med. Phys. 41 (2014).
- Enger SA, Giusti V, Fortin MA, Lundqvist H, Rosenscöld PM. Dosimetry for gadolinium neutron capture therapy (GdNCT). Radiat. Meas. 59 233–240 (2013).
- Enger SA, Darrell R Fisher, Ryan T Flynn. Gadolinium-153 as a Brachytherapy Isotope. Phys. Med. Biol. 58 957–964 (2013).
- Enger SA, Landry G, D’Amours M, Asai M, Beaulieu L, Verhagen F, Perl J. Layered Mass Geometry: a novel technique to overlay radiation source onto patient geometry in GEANT4. Phys. Med. Biol. 57 6269-77 (2012).
- Enger SA, Ahnesjö A, Verhaegen and Beaulieu L. Dose to tissue medium or water cavities as surrogate for the dose to cell nuclei at brachytherapy photon energies. Phys. Med. Biol. 57 4489-4500 (2012).
- Afsharpour H, Landry G, D’Amours M, Enger SA, Reniers B, Poon E, Verhaegen F and Beaulieu L. ALGEBRA: heterogeneous dosimetry algorithm based on GEANT4 for brachytherapy. Phys. Med. Biol. 57 3273–3280 (2012).
- Enger SA, Lundqvist H, D’Amours M, Beaulieu L. Exploring 57Co as a new isotope for brachytherapy application. Med. Phys. 39 2342-2346 (2012).
- Enger SA, D’Amours M, Beaulieu L. Modeling a Hypothetical 170Tm Source for Brachytherapy Applications. Med. Phys. 38 5307-5310 (2011).
- Xu C, Verhaegen F, Laurendeau, Enger SA, Beaulieu L. An algorithm for efficient metal artifact reductions in permanent seed implants. Med. Phys. 38 47-57 (2011).
- Enger SA., Hartman T., Carlsson J., Lundqvist H. Cross-fire doses from ß-emitting radionuclides in targeted radiotherapy. A theoretical study based on experimentally measured tumor characteristics. Phys. Med. Biol. 53 1909-1920 (2008).
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Ives Levesque
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Assistant Professor
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McGill University, Medical Physics Unit
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514-934-1934 ext 43739
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ives.levesque@mcgill.ca
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http://www.mcgill.ca/medphys/
Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Imaging Physics; Image Analysis; Quantitative Imaging; Oncology Imaging; Neuroimaging.
Ives Levesque, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Oncology and Medical Physics at McGill University, an MRI physicist at the McGill University Health Centre, Montreal General Hospital, and a Scientist in the Research Institute of the MUHC. He joined the MUHC and McGill in 2013. In the clinic, Dr. Levesque supports MRI through protocol development and optimization, and MRI safety procedures, and is working on the integration of MRI in the radiation oncology practice. He also leads a research group within the Medical Physics Unit. Dr. Levesque holds a B.Sc. in physics from the Université de Moncton, and Masters and PhD in physics from McGill University, specializing in magnetic resonance imaging. During his PhD, he investigated quantitative magnetization transfer and MR relaxation techniques for myelin imaging in the human brain. He was an NSERC postdoctoral scholar in the Magnetic Resonance Systems Research Laboratory in the Departments of Electrical Engineering and radiology at Stanford University, working on quantitative mapping and structural imaging of the human brain at 7 tesla, and on image reconstruction techniques. Dr. Levesque is a member of the ISMRM and was named a Junior Fellow of the ISMRM in 2011.
Dr. Levesque’s research group is active in development of methods for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with applications in oncology, neuro, and musculosketetal imaging. Our focus is on the development of pulse sequences and imaging strategies, optimization of data acquisition, signal modeling, and quantitative image analysis. This work is also supported by the RI-MUHC and the MGH Foundation.
Recent publications:
- E Alonso Ortiz, IR Levesque, and GB Pike. “MRI-Based Myelin Water Imaging: A Technical Review”, Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 2014 (Early View).
- N Stikov, M Boudreau, IR Levesque, CL Tardif, JK Barral, and GB Pike. “On the Accuracy of T1 Mapping: Searching for Common Ground”, Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 2014 (Early View).
- T Zhang, JM Pauly, and IR Levesque. “Accelerating Parameter Mapping with a Locally Low Rank Constraint”, Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 2014 (Early View).
- T Tourdias, M Saranathan, IR Levesque, J Su, and BK Rutt. “Visualization of intra-thalamic nuclei with optimized white-matter-nulled MPRAGE at 7T”, NeuroImage, 2014; 84(1): 534-545.
- IR Levesque, JG Sled, and GB Pike. “An iterative optimization method for design of quantitative magnetization transfer imaging experiments”, Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 2011; 66(3): 635-643.
- R Levesque, CLL Chia, and GB Pike. “Reproducibility of in vivo magnetic resonance imaging based measurement of myelin water”, Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, 2010; 32(1): 60-68.
- IR Levesque, JG Sled, S Narayanan, PS Giacomini, Luciana T. Ribeiro, Douglas L. Arnold, and GB Pike. “Reproducibility of quantitative magnetization transfer imaging parameters from repeated measurements”, Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 2010; 64(2): 391-400.
- IR Levesque, PS Giacomini, S Narayanan, Luciana T. Ribeiro, JG Sled, Douglas L. Arnold, and GB Pike. “Quantitative magnetization transfer and myelin water imaging of the evolution of acute multiple sclerosis lesions”, Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 2010; 63(3): 633-640.
- IR Levesque and GB Pike, “Characterizing healthy and diseased white matter using quantitative magnetization transfer imaging and multi-component T2 relaxometry: a unified view via a four-pool model”, Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 2009; 62(6): 1487-1496.
- PS Giacomini, IR Levesque, L Ribeiro, S Narayanan, SJ Francis, GB Pike, DL Arnold. “Measuring demyelination and remyelination in acute multiple sclerosis lesion voxels”, Archives of Neurology, 2009; 66:375-381.
- S Narayanan, SJ Francis, JG Sled, AC Santos, S Antel, IR Levesque, S Brass, Y Lapierre, D Sappey-Marinier, GB Pike, DL Arnold. “Axonal injury in the cerebral normal-appearing white matter of patients with multiple sclerosis is related to concurrent demyelination in lesions but not to concurrent demyelination in normal-appearing white matter”, Neuroimage, 2006; 29: 637-42.
- IR Levesque, JG Sled, S Narayanan, AC Santos, SD Brass, SJ Francis, DL Arnold, and GB Pike, “The role of edema and demyelination in chronic T1 black holes: a quantitative magnetization transfer study”, Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, 2005; 21:103-110.
- JG Sled, IR Levesque, C Santos, SJ Francis, S Narayanan, SD Brass, DL Arnold, and GB Pike, “Regional variations in normal brain shown by quantitative magnetization transfer imaging”, Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 2004; 51:299-303.
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John Kildea
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Assistant Professor
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McGill University, Medical Physics Unit
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514-934-1934, x44154
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john.kildea@mcgill.ca
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http://www.mcgill.ca/medphys/
To Be Added;
To Be Added.
My research interests are …
Recent publications:
- R. Maglieri, A. Licea, M. Evans, J. Seuntjens, J. Kildea (2015) Measuring neutron spectra in radiotherapy using the nested neutron spectrometer, Med. Phys. 42(11):6162-6169.
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Stephen Davis
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Assistant Professor
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McGill University, Medical Physics Unit
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514-934-1934, x44160
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stephen.davis@mcgill.ca
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http://www.mcgill.ca/medphys/
TO Be Added;
To Be Added.
My research interests are …
Recent publications:
- A. B. Paxton, S. D. Davis, and L. A. DeWerd, “Determining the effects of microsphere and surrounding material composition on 90Y dose kernels using EGSnrc and MCNP5,” Med. Phys. 39, 1424–1434 (2012).
- L. Beaulieu, Å. Carlsson Tedgren, J.-F. Carrier, S. D. Davis, F. Mourtada, M. J. Rivard, R. M. Thomson, F. Verhaegen, T. A. Wareing, and J. F. Williamson, “Report of the Task Group 186 on model-based dose calculation methods in brachytherapy beyond the TG-43 formalism: Current status and recommendations for clinical implementation,” Med. Phys. 39, 6208–6236 (2012).
- Jan Seuntjens, Eunah Chung, Stephen Davis (2013) Experimental analysis of general ion recombination in a liquid-filled ionization chamber in high-energy photon beams, Med. Phys. 40(6)
- J595. Sarfehnia, A., Davis, S., Poon, E., Fleming, A., Mitchell, D., and Freeman, C (2014) A novel approach to total skin irradiation using helical tomotherapy, Practical Radiation Oncology, in press.
- 599. Hobson MA, Soisson ET, Davis SD, Parker W. (2014) Using the ACR CT accreditation phantom for routine image quality assurance on both CT and CBCT imaging systems in a radiotherapy environment. J Appl Clin Med Phys 15: 226-239.
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Alasdair Syme
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Assistant Professor
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McGill University, Medical Physics Unit
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514-340-8222, x4925
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alasdair.syme@mcgill.ca
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http://www.mcgill.ca/medphys/
Radiation Treatment and Delivery; Organic Detectors; Radiation Therapy
I completed my undergraduate education in Medical and Health Physics at McMaster University in 1999 and then pursued doctoral studies at the University of Alberta. The topic of my research was beta dosimetry for a targeted radionuclide therapy for late stage ovarian cancer. I completed my clinical training at the Cross Cancer Institute in Edmonton in 2007 and worked as an assistant professor in Oncology at the University of Alberta and a Medical Physicist at the Cross Cancer Institute. In 2011 I moved to Montreal to work at the Jewish General Hospital and McGill University where I am now an assistant professor in the Medical Physics Unit within the Department of Oncology. I am currently a Member and Fellow of the Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine.
My research interests are focused in two primary areas: development of novel treatment techniques in radiation therapy; and organic radiation detectors. In particular, I am developing trajectoryGbased treatments for use on the TrueBeam linear accelerator platform from Varian Medical Systems. This includes aspects related to treatment planning(e.g. circular, elliptical and nonGcoplanar trajectories; trajectory optimization) as well as treatment delivery (e.g. collision prediction and patient positioning systems). Organic radiation detectors have been used for decades (e.g. scintillators), but the development of conductive and semiGconductive organic small molecules and polymers is facilitating the production of novel organic electronics (e.g. organic field effect transistors or diodes). I am currently investigating the properties of organic field effect transistors as radiation detectors, including the evaluation of damage products at the molecular level.
Recent publications:
- Moroz J, Turner J, Slupsky C, Fallone G and Syme A (2011) Tumour xenograft detection through quantitative analysis of the metabolic profile of urine in mice. Phys Med Biol 56: 535 – 556.
- Larocque M, Syme A, Turner JA and Fallone BG (2010) ADC response to radiation therapy correlates with induced changes in radiosensitivity. Med Phys 37: 3855 – 3861
- Larocque M, Syme A, Yahya A, Wachowicz K, Allalunis Turner J and Fallone BG (2010) Monitoring T2 and ADC at 9.4 T following fractionated external beam radiation therapy in a mouse model. Phys Med Biol 55: 1381 – 1393
- Joseph K, Syme A, Small C, Warkentin H, Quon H, Ghosh S, Field C, Pervez N, Tankel K, Patel S, Usmani N, Severin D, Nijjar T, Fallone G and Pedersen J (2010) A treatment planning study comparing helical tomotherapy with intensityGmodulated radiotherapy for the treatment of anal cancer. Radiother Oncol 94: 60 – 66
- Syme A, Kirkby C, Mirzayans R, Mackenzie M, Field C and Fallone BG (2009) Relative biological damage and electron fluence in and out of a 6 MV photon field Phys Med Biol 54: 6623 – 6633
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Corey Zankowski
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Vice President
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Varian Medical Systems, Oncology
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1.650.493.4000
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corey.zankowski@varian.ca@mcgill.ca
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http://www.varian.com/us/oncology/
Radiation and Dosimetry Physics; IP Management; Quality Systems Processes
Corey Zankowski is the Vice President of Product Management with Oncology Systems and has been with Varian Medical Systems since 1999. The Oncology Systems business unit represents nearly 80% of Varian’s annual revenues and is comprised of a 4,000 employee strong global team. Reporting in directly are the product portfolio, research and strategic initiatives, clinical solutions, user experience, Mike’s group, and targeted and treatment delivery. Corey joined Varian as a Product Manager for Treatment Planning Systems. He has held variety of roles in product management and engineering. Prior to his arrival to Varian, Corey managed/worked by B.C. Cancer Agency, Clinical Physics Department in Vancouver, B.C. Canada. Corey earned a PhD in Physics, a MS in Medical Physics and a BS in Honors Physics at McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Dummy Research Program
Recent publications:
- Mayo CS, Zankowski C, Herman M, Miller R, Olivier K, Vincent A, Suominen J., A method to vectorize the dose distribution, the dose volume histogram and create a dose vector histogram. Med Phys. 2013 Jan;40(1):011717. doi: 10.1118/1.4769111.
- Huntzinger C, Munro P, Johnson S, Miettinen M, Zankowski C, Ahlstrom G, Glettig R, Filliberti R, Kaissl W, Kamber M, Amstutz M, Bouchet L, Klebanov D, Mostafavi H, Stark R., Dynamic targeting image-guided radiotherapy. Med Dosim. 2006 Summer;31(2):113-25. Review.
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Harald Paganetti
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Professor & Director
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Department of Radiation Oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital & Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA.
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617-726-5847
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hpaganetti@partners.org
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http://gray.mgh.harvard.edu/
Radiation Physics; Monte Carlo Simulations in Proton Therapy
Dr. Harald Paganetti is the Director of Physics Research at the Department of Radiation Oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital and a Professor of Radiation Oncology at Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA. He received his PhD in experimental nuclear physics in 1992 from the RheinischeGFriedrichGWilhelms University in Bonn, Germany, and has been working in radiation therapy research on experimental as well as theoretical projects since 1994. He has authored and coGauthored more than 120 peerGreviewed publications and is renowned particularly for his work on proton therapy. In 2012 he edited a book on “Proton Therapy Physics”. Dr. Paganetti has been awarded numerous research grants from the National Cancer Institute in the United States. He is a member of taskGgroups and committees for various associations such as the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM), the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO), and the National Institutes of Health / National Cancer Institute. Further, he is an elected member of the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP) and an Associate Senior Editor of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics. In 2013 he received the A. Clifford Barger Excellence in Mentoring Award from Harvard Medical School.
The mission of physics research as given on our website (http://gray.mgh.harvard.edu/) is to improve outcome through physics innovation. Improving treatment outcome is the centerpiece of any research mission in radiation oncology. Specifically, physics traditionally has dealt with increasing the precision of treatment delivery, the accuracy of treatment dose prescription, and the quest for treatment plan optimization. The majority of topics in physics research is not considered basic research but is truly translational. Thus, physics research in radiation oncology is typically not aiming at long term goals where research results only find their way into the clinic via translation by vendors, but is aiming at developments together with the clinical staff that changes treatment delivery and planning for our patients in the short term, sometimes even while the patient is undergoing treatment. At the same time we also strive to create visions for longGterm improvements and even paradigm shifts in radiation oncology.
Our physics division has traditionally focused on five main areas:- Physical dose conformation: We explore and develop radiation treatment techniques for optimum physical dose conformation to the tumor target volume. Our efforts are focused on proton radiotherapy and advanced photon treatments, as well as on their comparison
- Intensity modulated treatments using photons and protons: Intensity modulation is crucial both in photon radiotherapy (IMXT) and in proton radiotherapy (IMPT). In particular, we develop robust optimization methods for handling uncertainty in IMPT, direct aperture optimization algorithms, VMAT plan optimization, and multiGcriteria planning methods.
- Biological modeling: As a basis for treatment optimization we work on a variety of modeling projects including relative biological effectiveness in proton therapy, outcome models for the relationship between the dose distribution and clinical outcome, and spatial modeling of microscopic disease.
- Motion in radiation therapy: We develop concepts and methods to consider the time component in the whole radiotherapy chain, from imaging over planning and optimization to treatment delivery. Special emphasize is on using proton scanned beam technology for treating lung cancers.
Recent publications:
- Hünemohr N, Paganetti H, Greilich S, Jäkel O, Seco J.: Tissue decomposition from dual energy CT data for MC based dose calculation in particle therapy. Med Phys. 2014 Jun;41(6):061714. doi: 10.1118/1.4875976.
- Moteabbed M, Yock TI, Paganetti H.: The risk of radiation-induced second cancers in the high to medium dose region: a comparison between passive and scanned proton therapy, IMRT and VMAT for pediatric patients with brain tumors. Phys Med Biol. 2014 Jun 21;59(12):2883-99.
- Grassberger C, Daartz J, Dowdell S, Ruggieri T, Sharp G, Paganetti H.: Quantification of proton dose calculation accuracy in the lung. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2014 Jun 1; 89(2):424-30.
- Gerweck LE, Huang P, Lu HM, Paganetti H, Zhou Y.: Lifetime increased cancer risk in mice following exposure to clinical proton beam-generated neutrons. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2014 May 1;89(1):161-6.
- Sethi RV, Giantsoudi D, Raiford M, Malhi I, Niemierko A, Rapalino O, Caruso P, Yock TI, Tarbell NJ, Paganetti H, MacDonald SM.: Patterns of failure after proton therapy in medulloblastoma; linear energy transfer distributions and relative biological effectiveness associations for relapses. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2014 Mar 1;88(3):655-63.
- Dowdell S, Grassberger C, Paganetti H.: Four-dimensional Monte Carlo simulations demonstrating how the extent of intensity-modulation impacts motion effects in proton therapy lung treatments. Med Phys. 2013 Dec;40(12):121713. doi: 10.1118/1.4829500.
- Paganetti H.: Advancing (proton) radiation therapy. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2013 Dec 1;87(5):871-3.
- Grosse N, Fontana AO, Hug EB, Lomax A, Coray A, Augsburger M, Paganetti H, Sartori AA, Pruschy M.: Deficiency in homologous recombination renders Mammalian cells more sensitive to proton versus photon irradiation. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2014 Jan 1;88(1):175-81.
- Testa M, Verburg JM, Rose M, Min CH, Tang S, Bentefour el H, Paganetti H, Lu HM.: Proton radiography and proton computed tomography based on time-resolved dose measurements. Phys Med Biol. 2013 Nov 21;58(22):8215-33.
- Paganetti H and van Luijk P: Biological considerations when comparing proton therapy with photon therapy. Seminars in Radiation Oncology 2013 23: 77-87; Top 5 most downloaded papers in Seminars in Radiation Oncology in the first half of 2013
- Carabe A; España A; Grassberger C and Paganeti H: Clinical consequences of Relative Biological Effectiveness variations in proton radiotherapy of the prostate, brain and liver. Physics in Medicine and Biology 2013 58: 2103-2117
- Ramos-Mendez JA; Perl J; Faddegon B; Schuemann J and Paganeti H: Geometrical splitting technique to improve the computational efficiency in Monte Carlo calculations for proton therapy. Medical Physics 2013 40: 041718
- Zeng C; Giantsoudi D; Grassberger C; Goldberg S; Niemierko A; Paganetti H; Efstathiou JA and Trofimov A: Maximizing the biological effect of proton dose delivered with scanned beams. Medical Physics 2013 40: 051708
- Cho J; Ibbott G; Gillin M; Gonzalez-Lepera C; Min CH, Paganetti H, Zhu X; El Fakhri G and 17Mawlawi O: Elemental tissue composition in proton treatment patients determined using positron emission tomography. Physics in Medicine and Biology 2013 58: 3815-3835
- Dowdell S; Grassberger C; Sharp GC and Paganetti H: Interplay effects in proton scanning for lung: A 4D Monte Carlo study assessing the impact of tumor and beam delivery parameters. Physics in Medicine and Biology 2013 58: 4137-4156.
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Kavita Murthy
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Director of Accelerators and Class II Facilities Division
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Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission
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1-800-668-5284
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Kavita.Murthy@cnsc-ccsn.gc.ca
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http://www.suretenucleaire.gc.ca/eng/
Regulation of Medical and Non-Medical Accelerators; Radiation Therapy Research, Industry; Nuclear Safety and Control Act
Kavita Murthy is the Director of Accelerators and Class II Facilities Division at the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. She has been in this position since 2005. Her division has the responsibility for the regulatory oversight over all accelerators operating above 1 MeV in Canada. As the Designated Officer for Class II Nuclear Facilities, Kavita Murthy has the authority to make licensing decision pertaining to these facilities on behalf of the Commission. Kavita Murthy leads a multiGfaceted team of engineers and physicists who conduct licensing and compliance activities related to these facilities. Kavita holds post graduate degrees in Physics (’88) and Medical Physics (’93) from McGill University. Before joining the CNSC in 2001, she worked as a clinical physicist at the Mortimer B. Davis Jewish General Hospital in Montreal and prior to that as a Research Associate at the Montreal Neurological Institute. Her Research at the MNI focused on developing the prototype positron emission mammography scanner for early, nonGinvasive diagnosis of breast cancers using FG18FDG as the radiotracer. In her present position Kavita is not directly involved in research projects, but maintains an active interest in research initiatives that contribute new knowledge to the scientific basis for regulatory decision making
Dummy Research Program
Dummy Publications
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Louis Archambault
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Assistant Professor
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Department of Physics, Engineering and Optics at Université Laval
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418-525-4444 ext 16820
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louis.archambault@mail.chuq.qc.ca
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http://physmed.fsg.ulaval.ca
Scintillation Fiber Dosimetry; Medical Physics
Dr. Louis Archambault joined the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire (CHU) de Quebec and Université Laval in June 2009 as a clinical medical physicist and researcher after completing a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Texas, M. D. Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC). He became an assistant professor in the département de physique, de génie physique et d’optique de l’Université Laval in July 2013. He is affiliated with the Centre de Recherche du CHU de Québec and the Centre de Rercheche sur le Cancer (CRC) de l’Université Laval. His expertise and interests covers a wide range of topic including scintillation dose detectors, dosimetry, 4DCT imaging, image guided adaptive radiation therapy, deformable image registration, proton therapy and Monte Carlo simulations
The main goal of my research program is to create new instruments and methods for guaranteeing that complex radiation treatments can be delivered safely and accurately thus improving their chances of success. This goal is pursued through two main areas. (1) Scintillator*based detector development for accurate dose measurement. Our group is working on a large range of dose detectors to better monitor radiation treatment delivery: from miniature single or multiG point detectors for in vivo and ex vivo measurements to a full 3D detector system for quality assurance of dynamic radiotherapy delivery. Our expertise lies in both the conception of these detectors as well as in innovative signal processing approaches such as hyperspectral analysis and tomographic dose reconstruction. (2) Image analysis and image processing. We are making sure that images produced during the radiation therapy workflow are used to their full potential. By using tools such as deformable image registration and texture analysis we can extract clinically relevant information from images and use that information to create better treatment plans. For example, we are developing schemes to improve the quality of images such as CBCT so that they can be used for accurate plan assessment and we are doing semiGautomated patient tracking using daily EPID images to trigger efficient adaptive radiotherapy. Furthermore, we are designing new phantoms to validate our image processing methods
Recent publications:
- Robertson D, Hui C, Archambault L, Mohan R, Beddar S. Optical artefact characterization and correction in volumetric scintillation dosimetry. Physics in medicine and biology, 2014. 59: 23-42
- Beaulieu L, Goulet M, Archambault L, Beddar S. Current status of scintillation dosimetry for megavoltage beams Journal of physics. Conference series, 2013. 444: 012013
- Goulet M, Gingras L, Beaulieu L, Archambault L. 3D tomodosimetry using scintillating fibers: proof-of-concept Journal of physics. Conference series, 2013. 444: 012023
- Goulet M, Archambault L, Beaulieu L, Gingras L. 3D tomodosimetry using long scintillating fibers: A feasibility study. Medical Physics, vol. 40, no. 10, p. 101703, Oct. 2013.
- Guillot M, Gingras L, Archambault L, Beddar S, Beaulieu L. Performance assessment of a 2D array of plastic scintillation detectors for IMRT quality assurance. Physics in medicine and biology, 2013. 58: 4439-54
- Therriault-Proulx F, Beaulieu L, Archambault L, Beddar S. On the nature of the light produced within PMMA optical light guides in scintillation fiber-optic dosimetry. Physics in medicine and biology, 2013. 58: 2073-84
- Morin J, Beliveau-Nadeau D, Chung E, Seuntjens J, Theriault D, Archambault L, Beddar S, Beaulieu L. A comparative study of small field total scatter factors and dose profiles using plastic scintillation detectors and other stereotactic dosimeters: The case of the CyberKnife. Medical physics, 2013. 40: 011719
- Wang LL, Perles LA, Archambault L, Sahoo N, Mirkovic D, Beddar S. Determination of the quenching correction factors for plastic scintillation detectors in therapeutic high-energy proton beams. Physics in medicine and biology, 2012. 57: 7767-81
- Klein D, Briere TM, Kudchadker R, Archambault L, Beaulieu L, Lee A, Beddar S. In-phantom dose verification of prostate IMRT and VMAT deliveries using plastic scintillation detectors. Radiation measurements, 2012. 47: 921-929
- Gauthier JF, Varfalvy N, Tremblay D, Cyr MF, Archambault L. Characterization of lung tumors motion baseline using cone-beam computed tomography. Medical physics, 2012. 39: 7062-7070
- J.-F. Gauthier, N. Varfalvy, D. Tremblay, M.-F. Cyr, and L. Archambault, “Characterization of lung tumors motion baseline using cone-beam computed tomography.,” Medical Physics, vol. 39, no. 11, pp. 7062–7070, Nov. 2012.
- L. Archambault, F. Therriault-Proulx, S. Beddar, and L. Beaulieu, “A mathematical formalism for hyperspectral, multipoint plastic scintillation detectors,” Phys. Med. Biol, vol. 57, no. 21, pp. 7133–7145, Oct. 2012.
- L. Archambault, F. Poenisch, N. Sahoo, D. Robertson, A. Lee, M. T. Gillin, R. Mohan, and S. Beddar, “Verification of proton range, position, and intensity in IMPT with a 3D liquid scintillator detector system.,” Medical Physics, vol. 39, no. 3, pp. 1239–1246, Mar. 2012.
- L. Archambault, T. M. Briere, F. Pönisch, L. Beaulieu, D. A. Kuban, A. Lee, and S. Beddar, “Toward a real-time in vivo dosimetry system using plastic scintillation detectors,” International Journal of Radiation Oncology* Biology* Physics, vol. 78, no. 1, pp. 280–287, Sep. 2010.
- S. Vedam, L. Archambault, G. Starkschall, R. Mohan, and S. Beddar, “Determination of prospective displacement-based gate threshold for respiratory-gated radiation delivery from retrospective phase-based gate threshold selected at 4D CT simulation,” Medical Physics, vol. 34, no. 11, p. 4247, 2007
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Malcolm McEwen
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Adjunct Professor
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Ionising Radiation Standards, National Research Council of Affliation Canada
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(613) 993-2197 Ext. 226
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Malcolm.McEwen@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca
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http://www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/eng/education/innovations/scientists/mcewen.html
Radiation Physics and Dosimetry; Experiments; Detectors; Accelerators; Calorimeters
Malcolm McEwen joined the Ionizing Radiations Standards Group at NRC in 2002 from the National Physical Laboratory in the UK. He has over 20 years experience in the field of ionizing radiation metrology and is actively involved with national and international organizations focusing on radiation dosimetry and medical physics including the Ottawa Medical Physics Institute, American Association of Physicists in Medicine and the Sistema Interamericano de Metrología. He is Adjunct Professor in the Department of Physics at Carleton University and participates in the medical physics graduate program there through supervision, teaching and providing access to NRC research facilities. Dr McEwen’s main area of interest is in the dosimetry for highGenergy photon and electron beams, as produced by linear accelerators and he has developed calibration services and protocols that enable medical physicists in cancer centres to deliver radiation therapy treatments with improved accuracy.
Expertise:
Development of primary standard calorimeters for highG energy photon and electron beam dosimetry at industrial and radiotherapy levels. Performance of secondary dosimeters G ionization chambers, diodes, chemical dosimeters (Fricke, alanine, etc). Operation of linear accelerators in the MeV energy range. Development of calibration services, codes of practice and audit systems for radiotherapy centres in Canada and worldwide.The Ionizing Radiation Standards Group is responsible for maintaining and developing measurement standards for Canada in the areas of radiation dosimetry and radioactivity. In addition to physical measurements it has a long history of developing radiation transport codes and maintains the wellG known EGSnrc system. The group has an impressive array of facilities including: CoG60, kV xGrays and betaGsource irradiation facilities, a lowGscatter radiation protection laboratory (with neutron and CsG137 beams), a comprehensive radioactivity and radiochemistry laboratory and a linear accelerator lab housing two MV electron linacs.
Current and planned projects within the group include:
• Development of a primary standard water calorimeter for electron beam dosimetry.
• Investigation of dose standards for small photon beams.
• Evaluation of new ion chamber designs for reference dosimetry.
• Investigation of novel detectors for high accuracy applications in radiation dosimetry.
• Measurement of ‘fundamental’ parameters used in radiation dosimetry (e.g., stopping powers for electron beams, the average energy required to produce an ion pair in air)
• Application of the Fricke dosimeter system to brachytherapy and kV dosimetry
• Performance comparison of integrating dosimeters (e.g., alanine, OSL, radiochromic film) and application as secondary standard and/or audit dosimeters
• Development of standards for LDR brachytherapy
• Development of techniques to determine absolute activity of alpha, beta and gamma radioactive sources.
• Investigation of the production, extraction, standardization and delivery of diagnostic radionuclides.
• Measurement of the absolute neutron fluence and energy spectra of neutron sources.
Projects are generally carried out in a team environment giving students the opportunity to work with several experts within the IRS group.Recent publications:
- McEwen M, DeWerd L, Ibbott G, Followill D, Rogers DW, Seltzer S, Seuntjens J., Addendum to the AAPM’s TG-51 protocol for clinical reference dosimetry of high-energy photon beams. Med Phys. 2014 Apr;41(4):041501. doi: 10.1118/1.4866223.
- Bouchard H, McEwen M., Comment on “linearization of dose-response curve of the radiochromic film dosimetry system” [Med. Phys. 39(8), 4850-4857 (2012)]. Med Phys. 2012 Nov;39(11):7171-2; author reply 7173-4. doi: 10.1118/1.4762820.
- Lacroix F, Guillot M, McEwen M, Gingras L, Beaulieu L., Extraction of depth-dependent perturbation factors for silicon diodes using a plastic scintillation detector. Med Phys. 2011 Oct;38(10):5441-7. doi: 10.1118/1.3637496.
- Lacroix F, Guillot M, McEwen M, Cojocaru C, Gingras L, Beddar AS, Beaulieu L., Extraction of depth-dependent perturbation factors for parallel-plate chambers in electron beams using a plastic scintillation detector. Med Phys. 2010 Aug;37(8):4331-42.
- McEwen MR., Measurement of ionization chamber absorbed dose k(Q) factors in megavoltage photon beams. Med Phys. 2010 May;37(5):2179-93.
- Tessier F, Hooten BD, McEwen MR., Zero-shift thimble ionization chamber. Med Phys. 2010 Mar;37(3):1161-3.
- Devic S, McEwen MR, Orton CG., Point/counterpoint. Radiochromic film is superior to ion chamber arrays for IMRT quality assurance. Med Phys. 2010 Mar;37(3):959-61. No abstract available.
- Faddegon BA, Sawkey D, O’Shea T, McEwen M, Ross C., Treatment head disassembly to improve the accuracy of large electron field simulation. Med Phys. 2009 Oct;36(10):4577-91.
- La Russa DJ, McEwen M, Rogers DW., An experimental and computational investigation of the standard temperature-pressure correction factor for ion chambers in kilovoltage x rays. Med Phys. 2007 Dec;34(12):4690-9.
- McEwen M, Palmans H, Williams A., An empirical method for the determination of wall perturbation factors for parallel-plate chambers in high-energy electron beams. Phys Med Biol. 2006 Oct 21;51(20):5167-81. Epub 2006 Sep 27.
- McEwen M., Comment on “determination of the depth of 50% of maximum ionization, I50, for electron beams by the divided difference method” [med. phys. 31, 2068-2074 (2004)]. Med Phys. 2004 Nov;31(11):3158-9; author reply 3160.
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Tony Falco
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CEO
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Resonant Medical - Elekta
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555-555-5555
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tony.falco@elekta.com
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http://www.elekta.com/
Therapy Imaging; Medical Imaging; IP creation
M. Tony Falco, Ph.D. is President and CEO of Elekta Canada since May 2008 and CTO since founding Resonant in 2000. Dr. Falco has over 15 years of clinical, IP creation, product development and business experience. Prior to Resonant, Dr. Falco was a member of the prestigious McGill University Faculty of Medicine and also held a clinical medical physicist position for 6 years of practical clinical and consulting experience at the McGill University Health Center. In 2001, Dr. Falco became the youngest Fellow of the Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine and was awarded the coveted Innovator Award in 2006.
Dr. Falco holds a B.Sc. in Physics, an M.Sc. in Radiation Physics and a Ph.D. in Medical Physics from McGill University, with emphasis on medical imaging. Instrumental in building the scientific and development foundation of the company since its inception and holds several patents whose principles are at the core of the company’s products and elegant solutions to essential market needs.
Dummy Research Program
Recent publications:
- Scheipers U, Koptenko S, Remlinger R, Falco T, Lachaine M., 3-D ultrasound volume reconstruction using the direct frame interpolation method. IEEE Trans Ultrason Ferroelectr Freq Control. 2010 Nov;57(11):2460-70.
- Fraser DJ, Chen Y, Poon E, Cury FL, Falco T, Verhaegen F., Dosimetric consequences of misalignment and realignment in prostate 3DCRT using intramodality ultrasound image guidance. Med Phys. 2010 Jun;37(6):2787-95.
- Cury FL, Shenouda G, Souhami L, Duclos M, Faria SL, David M, Verhaegen F, Corns R, Falco T., Ultrasound-based image guided radiotherapy for prostate cancer: comparison of cross-modality and intramodality methods for daily localization during external beam radiotherapy. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2006 Dec 1;66(5):1562-7. Epub 2006 Oct 23.
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COLLABORATORS
Shirin Enger
Ives Levesque
John Kildea
Stephen Davis
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Alasdair Syme
Radiation Treatment and Delivery; Organic Detectors; Radiation Therapy
Corey Zankowski
Radiation and Dosimetry Physics; IP Management; Quality Systems Processes
Harald Paganetti
Radiation Physics; Monte Carlo Simulations in Proton Therapy
John Miller
Imaging and Radiotherapy QA Devices and Software;
Kavita Murthy
Regulation of Medical and Non-Medical Accelerators; Radiation Therapy Research, Industry; Nuclear Safety and Control Act
Louis Archambault
Scintillation Fiber Dosimetry; Medical Physics
Malcolm McEwen
Radiation Physics and Dosimetry; Experiments; Detectors; Accelerators; Calorimeters
Tony Falco
Therapy Imaging; Medical Imaging; IP creation