Radiotheranostics - A Primer for Medical Physicists I


Book Description

This book covers scientific, clinical, and educational aspects of radiotheranostics in cancer control. Setting the framework, the first volume defines radiotheranostics and describes the history of radionuclide therapy and theranostics, and the biology of cancer. It examines the clinical applications of unconjugated radionuclides, such as 131I and 223Ra, and of radionuclide-conjugated cancer-specific vectors: peptides, small molecules, antibodies, and nanoparticles; introduces clinical trials and drug development; and reviews epidemiological studies and the adverse effects of radionuclide therapy – both radiation injuries and chemical toxicity. It presents the chemistry and physics of radionuclide production, discusses radioactivity measurements and traceability, and addresses important instrumentation aspects: calibration, quantitative imaging, and quality control. Volume I concludes with guidance on the education, training, and competence of a radiotheranostic multidisciplinary team and summarizes the principal physics characteristics of theranostics today – including many to be expanded in the second volume – while offering a glimpse into tomorrow. This volume provides the foundations for the more advanced second volume, which explores dosimetric and radiation safety, aiming to empower medical physicists and demonstrate to the cancer community how to improve cancer control and yield increased patient survival times.It will be a valuable reference for medical and health physicists with basic knowledge of nuclear medicine. Key Features Provides a comprehensive introduction to the topic, presenting readers with thorough treatment in a cohesive two-volume book Presents a rigorous approach while remaining accessible to students and trainees in the field Contains consistent and extensive references to allow readers to delve deeper into the subject




Clinical Insights for Image-Guided Radiotherapy


Book Description

This book provides a clinical insight into image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) for prostate cancer. It starts by setting the clinical scene, discussing immobilisation and standard IGRT practice and then considering important developments like IGRT with non-ionising radiation, adaptive radiotherapy, particle therapy, margins, hypofractionation, clinical outcomes, AI and training. Good IGRT requires both technical and clinical focus. So, in complement to our first study guide on IGRT, this book now brings together key, clinical insights into IGRT for Prostate Cancer patients, with a view to helping the professional learn more about ‘how-to’ undertake IGRT for these patients more accurately, effectively and safely, throughout the whole course of a patient’s treatment with radiation. This clinical insight guide will be of interest to newly qualified radiation therapists, therapeutic radiographers, medical dosimetrists, medical physicists, radiotherapy physicists and clinical oncologists. It will also be of use for trainees and can be used alongside continuing competency and clinical training within real clinical departments and radiation therapy centres worldwide. This is the first in a forthcoming series of clinical insights, each tackling a different treatment area. Further areas in the series will be: Head and Neck; Thorax; Breast; Pelvis; and the Brain. Key Features: • Internationally applicable, clinically focused, up-to-date and evidence based. · Accompanied by suitable electronic multimedia resources. · Authored by experts with decades of experience of pioneering electronic portal imaging and IGRT in clinical practice, pedagogic research and substantial experience of teaching/supervising students, trainees and qualified therapists/medical physicists at bachelors, postgraduate and doctoral levels. Mike Kirby and Kerrie-Anne Calder are well-respected authors and radiotherapy professionals, who have worked in radiotherapy physics/radiotherapy clinical and academic practice for nearly 35 years and 25 years respectively. Mike Kirby is a Senior Lecturer in Radiotherapy Physics at the University of Liverpool, UK, and an Honorary Lecturer at the University of Manchester, UK. He holds graduate and postgraduate qualifications in medical physics and has in total over 200 books, papers, oral and poster presentations to his name in the field of radiotherapy. Dr. Kirby holds professional membership of the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine, the American Association of Physicists in Medicine, the American Society for Radiation Oncology, the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology and the British Institute of Radiology, is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and the British Institute of Radiology in the UK. Kerrie-Anne Calder is a Lecturer at the University of Liverpool, UK, where she educates undergraduate and post graduate students in many aspects of radiotherapy with a special interest and role in imaging training. Kerrie-Anne has graduate and postgraduate qualifications in radiotherapy, education and academic practice, is a member of the Society and College of Radiographers, and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in the UK. She was a clinical and professional lead in IGRT (on-treatment verification imaging) within the NHS in the UK for over ten years.




Image-guided Focused Ultrasound Therapy


Book Description

Ultrasound has been widely used in diagnostic imaging for a long time. In the past 10 years, image-guided focused ultrasound therapy has seen rapid growth, in biomedical science and engineering, and in clinical medicine. The purpose of this book is to bring internationally renowned authorities and experts in this field together to provide up-to-date and comprehensive reviews of basic physics, biomedical engineering, and clinical applications of focused ultrasound therapy in a widely accessible fashion. Focusing on applications in cancer treatment, this book covers basic principles, practical aspects, and clinical applications of focused ultrasound therapy. It reviews the medical physics and bio-effects of focused ultrasound beams on living tissues, dosimetric methods and measurements, transducer engineering, image guidance and monitoring (including magnetic resonance imaging -- MRI -- and ultrasound), treatment delivery systems, and clinical applications. The book also gives practical guidelines on patient setup, target localisation, treatment planning and image-guided procedures for the treatment in various sites, including the prostate, liver, pancreas, breast, kidney, uterus, bone, and brain. The book discusses major challenges for the use of focused ultrasound energy on living tissues and explores the cellular and physiological responses that can be employed in the fight against cancer from biological, physics and engineering perspectives. It also highlights recent advances, including the treatment of solid tumours using image-guided drug delivery, and the exploitation of microbubbles, nanoparticles, and other cutting-edge techniques. Readers who are interested in learning more about the technique and the clinical applications described in each chapter can find more information in the comprehensive bibliographies provided. This book is suitable for anyone involved in, or looking to become involved in, the research and clinical applications of focused ultrasound therapy, including medical professionals, physicists, biomedical engineers, graduate students and others working in this multidisciplinary field. It offers a balanced and critical assessment of state-of-the-art technologies, major challenges, and an outlook on the future of focused ultrasound therapy. It presents a thorough introduction for those new to the field while providing helpful, up-to-date information and guidelines for readers already using this therapy in clinical and pre-clinical settings. Key Features: Brings together a wide range of world-leading experts in this new field, presenting the latest clinical outcomes of using focused ultrasound for the treatment of benign and malignant diseases Covers the fundamental physics of focused ultrasound therapy and ultrasound-mediated drug delivery, including chapters on the mechanism of sonoporation, microbubble and ultrasound interaction, and their potential clinical applications Introduces clinical guidelines for focused ultrasound therapy, including indications and contraindications, treatment goals, the selection of patients, clinical observation during treatment procedure and follow-up, and characteristics of image changes after treatment




Essentials of Functional MRI


Book Description

Essentials of Functional MRI is explained from the basic theory underlying magnetic resonance imaging. This includes how it can be used to detect dynamic variations in neural activity to become “functional” MRI, and how fMRI can be used for a variety of applications. The reader will gain an understanding of how fMRI is currently used, its limitations, and how it is still developing. This is achieved by explaining the core concepts and building on them to explain how fMRI data are acquired and what physiological information they provide. These ideas are the key to understanding how the data are analyzed to detect physiological changes that are related to neural activity. With an understanding of the basic underlying concepts, the way that fMRI is used, and its limitations, are much easier to understand. This 2nd edition includes explanations of new advances in MRI techniques and fMRI data analysis methods, and updated examples of applications of fMRI, including current or future clinical applications. This book is intended for students, researchers, and clinicians, who want to understand the theory and practice of fMRI in sufficient detail to use it for neuroscience research, clinical research, and for clinical practice.




Primer on Radiation Oncology Physics


Book Description

Gain mastery over the fundamentals of radiation oncology physics! This package gives you over 60 tutorial videos (each 15-20 minutes in length) with a companion text, providing the most complete and effective introduction available. Dr. Ford has tested this approach in formal instruction for years with outstanding results. The text includes extensive problem sets for each chapter. The videos include embedded quizzes and "whiteboard" screen technology to facilitate comprehension. Together, this provides a valuable learning tool both for training purposes and as a refresher for those in practice. Key Features A complete learning package for radiation oncology physics, including a full series of video tutorials with an associated textbook companion website Clearly drawn, simple illustrations throughout the videos and text Embedded quiz feature in the video tutorials for testing comprehension while viewing Each chapter includes problem sets (solutions available to educators)







Radiation Protection and Dosimetry


Book Description

This book provides a comprehensive yet accessible overview of all relevant topics in the field of radiation protection (health physics). The text is organized to introduce the reader to basic principles of radiation emission and propagation, to review current knowledge and historical aspects of the biological effects of radiation, and to cover important operational topics such as radiation shielding and dosimetry. The author’s website contains materials for instructors including PowerPoint slides for lectures and worked-out solutions to end-of-chapter exercises. The book serves as an essential handbook for practicing health physics professionals.




Sciencia


Book Description

Collects six short illustrated volumes covering topics in mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, evolution, and astronomy.




Auto-Segmentation for Radiation Oncology


Book Description

This book provides a comprehensive introduction to current state-of-the-art auto-segmentation approaches used in radiation oncology for auto-delineation of organs-of-risk for thoracic radiation treatment planning. Containing the latest, cutting edge technologies and treatments, it explores deep-learning methods, multi-atlas-based methods, and model-based methods that are currently being developed for clinical radiation oncology applications. Each chapter focuses on a specific aspect of algorithm choices and discusses the impact of the different algorithm modules to the algorithm performance as well as the implementation issues for clinical use (including data curation challenges and auto-contour evaluations). This book is an ideal guide for radiation oncology centers looking to learn more about potential auto-segmentation tools for their clinic in addition to medical physicists commissioning auto-segmentation for clinical use. Features: Up-to-date with the latest technologies in the field Edited by leading authorities in the area, with chapter contributions from subject area specialists All approaches presented in this book are validated using a standard benchmark dataset established by the Thoracic Auto-segmentation Challenge held as an event of the 2017 Annual Meeting of American Association of Physicists in Medicine




Calculating X-ray Tube Spectra


Book Description

Calculating x-ray tube spectra provides a comprehensive review of the modelling of x-ray tube emissions, with a focus on medical imaging and radiotherapy applications. It begins by covering the relevant background, before discussing modelling approaches, including both analytical formulations and Monte Carlo simulation. Historical context is provided, based on the past century of literature, as well as a summary of recent developments and insights. The book finishes with example applications for spectrum models, including beam quality prediction and the calculation of dosimetric and image-quality metrics. This book will be a valuable resource for postgraduate and advanced undergraduate students studying medical radiation physics, in addition to those in teaching, research, industry and healthcare settings whose work involves x-ray tubes. Key Features: Covers simple modelling approaches as well as full Monte Carlo simulation of x-ray tubes Bremsstrahlung and characteristic contributions to the spectrum are discussed in detail Learning is supported by free open-source software and an online repository of code.