Mapping cancer therapy
In collaboration with the Maastro Clinic, Maastricht, Netherlands, NPL is developing an imaging method that will help continue to ensure cancer patients receive the correct dose of radiotherapy.
radiotherapy to measure the dose given to the patient
Cancer is one of the major public health problems - in the UK more than one in three of us are likely to develop cancer at some point in our lives.
Treating cancer
Modern treatments mean that cancer survival rates have doubled since the 1970s. Radiotherapy is one common method of treatment, which approximately 40% of cancer patients receive.
Radiotherapy aims to target tumour tissue without harming the surrounding healthy tissue.
Recent advances in radiation dose delivery and treatment planning now allow patients to be treated with dose distributions that conform tightly to the tumour shape.
Measuring dose delivered
In complex radiotherapy treatments it is essential to measure and verify the dose delivered to a patient. Too high a dose could be harmful, and too low a dose could have no effect on the cancer.
Measurement and verification of the dose is achieved via an instrument called an electronic portal imaging device (EPID). EPIDs are rather like large digital cameras and are located opposite the radiotherapy machine's treatment head. EPIDs are already used on most hospital machines, as they were originally used to ensure patients were in the right position to receive treatment.
However, EPID images acquired during treatment also contain information about the dose delivered. It is this information that NPL is using to contribute towards improving the safety and efficiency of radiotherapy.
Meeting the standard
NPL is developing a method whereby an EPID image is converted to a dose map of the radiation delivered to a patient during treatment. This work supports UK cancer standard requirements, which recommends that all UK hospitals measure patient dose during treatment.
This research is funded by the National Measurement System (NMS), the UK's national infrastructure for measurement, which delivers world-class measurement science and technology. It is overseen by the National Measurement Office (NMO), an Executive Agency of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and is responsible for stimulating good measurement practice and enabling business to make accurate and traceable measurements, for the benefit of the nation.
For further information, please contact Julia Snaith
Find out more about NPL's research in Ionising Radiation and Healthcare