Ponente
Descripción
Hadron therapy provides notable advantages compared to traditional radiotherapy, largely because it allows for precise dose delivery at the Bragg peak. The effectiveness of this approach could be further improved with the implementation of a near real-time ion-range verification system. Such monitoring would make it possible to minimize safety margins and better exploit the full potential of the treatment by mitigating sources of systematic uncertainty.
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 particularly well-suited for real-time monitoring because of the prompt nature of the emitted radiation. In contrast, PET imaging offers tomographic and functional information, making it valuable for studying physiological processes and tumor response. A PGI-PET hybrid imaging system could help to address some of the limitations inherent to each technique. This expectation arises from the complementary strengths of the two techniques: prompt-gamma emission is more suitable for real-time monitoring, while PET imaging provides tomographic and functional information valuable for studying physiological processes and tumor response.
In this contribution I will summarize the status of hybrid PGI-PET technique explored at three different types of ion-therapy machines: the large synchrotron at HIT, the Proteus Plus iso-cyclotron and the Proteus One synchro-cyclotron from IBA. The main experimental results will be presented, together with a discussion on the present experimental limitations and future steps to further develop this promising technique towards the clinical environment.
