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SiFi-CC: ON-LINE MONITORING OF DOSE DISTRIBUTION IN PROTON THERAPY USING HEAVY SCINTILLATING FIBERS
Context
The project SiFi-CC is a joint effort of a group of researchers and students from the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland, RWTH Aachen University, Germany and the University of Lübeck, Germany. The aim of the project is the development of a method for on-line monitoring of a cancer treatment called proton therapy. In this kind of treatment, a tumour is irradiated with a proton beam with parameters adjusted such, that protons deposit maximum of their energy in the tumour region, leading to the destruction of tumour cells. For this purpose, a treatment plan is prepared individually for each patient, usually based on CT (computed tomography) or PET (positron emission tomography) images. However, human body undergoes changes, which may lead to misplacement of the applied dose compared to the original plan. Therefore methods for on-line monitoring in proton therapy are sought for, as they would allow preparing better treatment plans for patients, leading to better and safer treatment.
Project
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In our project, we want to test a possible option of design of a setup for proton therapy monitoring. Its operation consists in the detection of gamma radiation, which is produced in a patient's body irradiated with a proton beam. By reconstructing the source of this radiation we can conclude about the location and shape of the deposited dose. We will detect prompt-gamma radiation using long but thin pieces (so-called fibres) of a scintillating material, i.e. the one which shines the light when being traversed by a particle or a gamma ray. This light can be registered with special sensors called silicon photomultipliers. So the name of our project comes from Silicon Photomultiplier and Scintillating Fiber based Compton Camera (SiFi-CC).
The setup we propose has two modes of operation: a Compton camera and a coded-mask, which allow mapping the deposited dose distribution in three or two dimensions, respectively. The two options share a vast part of the hardware, therefore we want to develop them in parallel. First, we will conduct a series of virtual experiments (computer simulations) to find the best possible design option, then we will make sure in the laboratory tests that the simulation results correspond to reality. Once the design is fixed, we will build and test the setup, first in a laboratory, and then in a therapeutic centre with phantoms simulating the human body. |
SUPPORTED BY
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Job offers
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Such a venture comprises very different tasks: from laboratory tests, through computer simulations, building a modern data acquisition system, processing of experimental data and implementation of algorithms for image reconstruction, up to experiments with a proton beam in a therapeutic centre.
If you are interested in joining our group, contact us and ask for our offer for students, PhD students and post-docs. The project is financed by the National Science Centre, Poland, within the SONATA BIS 7 program, foreseen to be completed in September 2024. |
Collaboration
The project SiFi-CC is a joint effort of the group:
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Aleksandra Wrońska1
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Magdalena Rafecas5
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Jorge Roser5
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Katarzyna Rusiecka1
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Achim Stahl2
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Mark Wong1
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Vitalii Urbanevych1
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| PI, professor | professor | post-doc | post-doc | professor | post-doc | post-doc |
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| Magdalena Kołodziej1
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Monika Kercz1
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Gabriel Ostrzołek1 | Philippe Clement1,2 | Mikołaj Dubiel1 | Szymon Machura1 | Dominik Szubartowski1 |
| PhD student | PhD student | Master student | Master student | Master student | Bachelor student | Bachelor student |
Associated researchers:
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| Ronja Hetzel6, formerly 2
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| post-doc |
Former members, also those working on the gCCB project:
Awal Awal2, Piotr Bednarczyk3, Anna Bekas1, Andreas Bolke5, Daniel Böckenhoff2, Arshiya Anees Ahmed1, Arkadiusz Bubak4, Richard Chomjak1, Michelle Dombeu2, George Farah2 Sabine Feyen2, Grzegorz Gazdowicz1, Aleksandra Kaszlikowska1, Majid Kazemi Kozani1, Laurent Kelleter2, Jonas Kasper2, Nadia Kohlhase5, Barbara Kołodziej1, Adam Konefał4, Wojciech Kozyra1, Karim Laihem2, Rafał Lalik1, Johannes Leidner2, Andrzej Magiera1, Sara Müller2, Grzegorz Obrzud1, Marek Pałka1, Mareike Profe2, Damian Stachura1, Szymon Świstun1, Aneta Wiśniewska1, Anna Władyszewska1, Mirosław Ziębliński3 Alexander Fenger2 Linn Mielke2
1Institute of Physics, Jagiellonian University, Kraków 2III. Physikalisches Institut B, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen 3Institute of Nuclear Physics PAN, Kraków 4University of Silesia, Katowice 5Institute of Medical Engineering, University of Lübeck 6Biophysics Department, GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH, Darmstadt
