München 2009 – scientific programme

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ST: Fachverband Strahlen- und Medizinphysik

ST 9: Magnetic Resonance and PET Imaging

ST 9.5: Talk

Thursday, March 12, 2009, 10:00–10:15, A021

PET imaging for in-vivo verification of ion beam therapy — •Katia Parodi — Heidelberg Ion Beam Therapy Center, Heidelberg — Previously at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, USA, and Forschungszentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Dresden

The usage of ion beams in external radiotherapy is rapidly increasing worldwide. The main rationale is their favorable depth-dose distribution with a sharp maximum at the end of range, the "Bragg-peak". Full clinical exploitation of this advantage demands millimeter accuracy in the localization of the beam stopping point and lateral field position in human tissue. Positron-emission-tomography (PET) currently offers the only feasible technique for in-vivo verification of the actual beam delivery and, in particular, of the beam range in the patient. The method exploits the detection of the transient β+-activation induced by ion irradiation, which is correlated but not proportional to the dose delivery. Treatment verification can be achieved by comparing the measured activity distribution with a calculated one, as originally proposed and implemented for carbon ion therapy at GSI Darmstadt.

After a review of the main principles and experiences, this talk will address the first quantitative study on PET/CT (Computed-Tomography) imaging for in-vivo verification of proton therapy, describing all steps from the calculation modeling to the pre-clinical phantom experiments followed by the first clinical trial at the Francis H. Burr Proton Therapy Center at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston. Merits and issues of the method will be discussed, including an overview of ongoing research aimed at improved clinical performances.