Ponente
Descripción
Hadron Therapy has advantages over conventional radiotherapy due to the maximization of the dose at the Bragg peak. However, owing to different systematic uncertainty sources associated with the technique, quasi-real-time monitoring for ion-range verification is required to reduce safety margins and enhance its potential benefits. Two of the most promising methodologies for in-room real-time monitoring are positron-emission tomography (PET) and prompt-gamma imaging (PGI). The PGI technique is well-suited for real-time monitoring due to the prompt nature of the emitted radiation [Ler22], whereas PET imaging can provide tomographic and functional information relevant to studying physiological processes and tumor response.
We have implemented hybrid imaging monitoring based on the combination of both PGI and PET within the same system [Bal22], thus exploiting the advantages of both techniques. This is accomplished by means of an array of Compton cameras in a twofold front-to-front configuration operating in synchronous mode.
In this contribution, I will present a summary of a proof-of-concept experiment performed at CNA-Sevilla and the first results from the HIT-Heidelberg facility, where clinical conditions were used to validate the hybrid technique with protons, alpha, and C-ion beams.
[Ler22] J. Lerendegui-Marco et al., “Towards machine learning aided real-time range imaging in proton therapy”, Sci Rep 12, 2735 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-06126-6
[Bal22] J. Balibrea-Correa et al., “Hybrid in-beam PET- and Compton prompt-gamma imaging aimed at enhanced proton-range verification”, The Eur. Phys. Jour. Plus, Volume 137, Issue 11, article id.1258 (2022) https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-022-03414-y
