Book Description

This book explores the current difficulties and unsolved problems in the field of particle therapy and, after analysing them, discusses how (and if) innovative Monte Carlo approaches can be used to solve them. Each book chapter is dedicated to a different sub-discipline, including multi-ion treatments, flash-radiotherapy, laser-accelerated beams, nanoparticles effects, binary reactions to enhance radiobiology, and space-related issues. This is the first book able to provide a comprehensive insight into this exciting field and the growing use of Monte Carlo in medical physics. It will be of interest to graduate students in medicine and medical physics, in addition to researchers and clinical staff. Key Features: Explores the exciting and interdisciplinary topic of Monte Carlo in particle therapy and medicine. Addresses common challenges in the field. Edited by an authority on the subject, with chapter contributions from specialists. Pablo Cirrone is a medical physicist and researcher at the Laboratori Nazionali del Sud of INFN, Italy, where he supports and coordinates various experimental groups. Dr. Cirrone is an expert in the use of proton and ion in radiation treatment and of absolute and relative dosimetry in electron, photon and ion beam. He is an expert in the development and test of detectors for medical applications, of the production and use of laser-driven beams for medical and multidisciplinary applications and recipient of the Michael Gotein Award. He is active on many scientific committees and organizes national and international conferences. Giada Petringa is a researcher at the Laboratori Nazionali del Sud of INFN, Italy. Dr. Petringa has a professional experience in the field of Monte Carlo simulations for medical applications, dosimetry, microdosimetry, and diagnostics with conventional and laser-driven proton beams. In 2019 she had a MSCA-IF-2019 (Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions-Individual Fellowship) grant funded by the European Community in the framework of the H2020 program. She is a member of the Editorial Board of the international journal Physica Medica - European Journal of Medical. She organized more than fifteen international Geant4 Schools. She is an official member of the Geant4 code Collaboration at CERN since 2019. She is a code developer, and she collaborates to maintain two of the official examples of the code.