Instrumentation and modelisation for advanced radiotherapy techniques

par Jayde Livingstone (LPSC)

vendredi 11 avr. 2025, 14:00 → 16:00 Europe/Paris

Amphi Grunewald

Radiotherapy is a key treatment modality for cancer, aiming to deliver a lethal dose to malignant cells while minimising damage to surrounding healthy tissues. Advanced and emerging radiotherapy techniques, such as hadron therapy, spatially fractionated radiation therapy (MRT), and ultra-high dose rate irradiation (FLASH), seek to enhance this therapeutic effect by improving tumour targeting and reducing toxicity to normal tissues.

Hadrontherapy takes advantage of the unique dosimetric properties of charged particles, such as protons and heavier ions, promising to precisely target tumours whilst avoiding damage to surrounding healthy tissues. However in practice, uncertainties in the ion range and variations in the relative biological effectiveness (RBE) of different ions and secondary particles lead to conservative dose prescriptions to ensure treatment safety. Synchrotron microbeam radiation therapy (MRT), on the other hand, combines spatial fractionation and high dose rate irradiation to significantly reduce normal tissue toxicity while maintaining effective tumour control. MRT, still in the preclinical phase, requires the development of rigorous dosimetry protocols to ensure accurate and reproducible dose delivery for future clinical implementation.

At the core of my research is the development of specialised instrumentation, particularly detection systems, for hadrontherapy and MRT. These techniques require highly efficient detectors capable of operating in high-radiation environments, offering fast response times, resilience to extreme conditions, and high spatial resolution for precise dose measurement. This seminar will focus on the development and experimental characterisation of novel detectors, complemented by Monte Carlo simulations, to advance dosimetry and quality assurance in advanced radiotherapy techniques.