International Medical Physics Week (IMPW) 2023

Day 1 (24 April 2023)

IOMP Webinar: Radiation Protection When Imaging Pregnant Patients: An ICRP Perspective

Monday, 24th April 2023 at 12 pm GMT; Duration 1 hour

CME/CPD credit point shall be awarded for participation in the webinar in full.

Organizer: John Damilakis, IOMP
Moderator: John Damilakis, IOMP

Speaker: Kimberly Applegate, MD. MS

Dr. Kimberly Applegate is a retired professor of radiology and pediatrics from the University of Kentucky in Lexington.Kimberly is a member of the ICRP Main Commission of the International Commission for Radiological Protection (ICRP) as chair of Committee 3, focusing on radiation protection in medicine and also the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP). She is active on multiple ICRP task groups including TG 108, 109, 113, 121, 124, and 126 and NCRP subcommittees—one on patient shielding in medical imaging and another on the stratification of equipment use and training for fluoroscopy. To improve safe and effective imaging care of children worldwide, Kimberly has been active in the Image Gently Campaign (now the Alliance) Steering Committee from its beginning in 2007.

Abstract:

The radiological protection community in medicine has long recognized the relative radiosensitivity of pregnant women and the fetus compared to the average adult patient. There are a number of serious clinical conditions, including new cancer diagnoses, that occur during pregnancy and that require imaging procedures and radiation therapy that will be described. Further, there is continued evolution of our scientific understanding of radiation health effects, of societal values, and imaging protocols allow for improved radiological protection as long as local education/training and communication are provided for all stakeholders. However, there are varying levels of guidance, imaging protocols, and shared decision-making with women and their families. This webinar will provide an update on the ICRP work regarding this topic.

Day 2 (25 April 2023)

IOMP Webinar: Micro-X CNT Emitters, X-ray Tubes, and Unique Imaging Applications

Tuesday, 25th April 2023 at 12 pm GMT; Duration 1 hour

View Recording here

CME/CPD credit point shall be awarded for participation in the webinar in full.

Organizer: Eva Bezak, IOMP
Moderator: Eva Bezak, IOMP

Speaker: Brian Gonzales, PhD

Brian is the Chief Scientist of Micro-X and the CEO of Micro-X Inc, the US subsidiary. Brian has a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from UNC and NC State University and has published in multiple peer-reviewed scientific journals, focused on X-ray Computed Tomography using carbon nanotube (CNT) X-ray technology. Brian has worked with carbon nanotube X-ray technology from the early research at UNC, then lead early development of the technology at XinRay Systems, and then assisting in the transition to full commercialization of the technology at Micro-X in partnership with Flinders University and the University of Melbourne in Australia.

Abstract:

Micro-X has successfully developed the world’s first carbon nanotube (CNT) based x-ray tube for medical applications. This unique technology achieves both the high x-ray current, and the stable x-ray output required for safe and effective medical imaging. The performance of Micro-X CNT tubes is achieved through two patented design features of the CNT emitter that differentiate the emitter for other field-emission emitters. In this presentation, Micro-X will present an overview of the emitter design and share emitter data demonstrating the high current and stable performance.

CNT x-rays are smaller and simpler compared to conventional x-ray tubes. CNT x-ray tubes are controlled by direct electronic voltage instead of the indirect thermionic control of conventional x-ray. These differences enable new imaging systems to be developed. In this presentation, Micro-X will overview the four different products Micro-X has designed taking advantage of the advantages of the CNT x-ray. This includes a lightweight mobile digital x-ray imaging system to bring x-ray directly to a patient bedside, an x-ray camera that creates two-dimensional x-ray backscatter images with the x-ray source and detector on a single side, a compact lightweight CT for early diagnosis of stroke, and a reimaged airport checkpoint based around a miniaturized CT baggage scanner.

Day 3 (26 April 2023)

IOMP Webinar: Cumulative Dose: What, Why, When, How, and How Much?

Wednesday, 26th April 2023 at 12 pm GMT; Duration 1 hour

View Recording here

CME/CPD credit point shall be awarded for participation in the webinar in full.

Organizer: John Damilakis, IOMP
Moderator: John Damilakis, IOMP

Speaker: Madan Rehani, PhD

Dr. Madan Rehani is Director, Global Outreach for Radiation Protection at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston. He was President, IOMP (2018- 2022) and is currently President IUPESM. He is a retired Professor of Medical Physics and also retired from the IAEA where he worked for 11 years. He was Head of the WHO Collaborating Center on Imaging Technology and Radiation Protection in India. Dr. Rehani is an Emeritus Member, International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), having been active member for 24 years. He is author of 9 Annals of ICRP, 4 of which as Chair of the TG. He is Senior editor Br J Radiology and Assoc Editor, Eur J Medical Physics. He has more than 180 publications, has written 40 chapters in Books and edited 5 books. Besides medical physics & radiology journals, he has published papers in clinical journals e.g. JAMA Intern Med, Br Med J, Eur Heart J, Cardiovascular Imaging, Am J Gastroenterol, Circulation J, The Lancet.

Abstract:

Despite criticism, there is no way out from cumulative effective dose (CED) when several organs are involved, and we have to focus on the patient’s radiation safety in addition to the technique dose. One cannot close eyes to stochastic risks when patients are receiving cumulative doses in three digits of mGy of organ doses or three digits of mSv of CED in a short period of a few years. Scientists involved in studying radiation effects inform us that we have to sum doses from imaging exams performed at different times and they do not have gap correction factors for stochastic effects. Studies published in the last 3 years have brought new results, never before known. They have opened a new era where every one of us has the potential to contribute to enhancing patient radiation safety and the manufacturers have to do much more. The talk will deal with what lies ahead, which is more powerful than controversies.

Day 4 (27 April 2023)

IOMP Webinar: Leadership in Medical Physics

Thursday, 27th April 2023 at 12 pm GMT; Duration 1 hour

View Recording here

CME/CPD credit point shall be awarded for participation in the webinar in full.

Organizer: Eva Bezak, IOMP, Simone Kodlulovich Renha, IOMP
Moderator: Simone Kodlulovich Renha, IOMP

Speaker: Colin Orton, PhD

Dr. Orton graduated with a Ph.D. in Radiation Physics from the University of London, England in 1966. He has worked as Director of Medical Physics at New York University School of Medicine (Assistant Professor 1966-1975), at Rhode Island Hospital and Brown University (Associate Professor 1975-1981), and at the Detroit Medical Center/Karmanos Cancer Institute and Wayne State University (Professor 1981-2003), where he is currently Professor Emeritus in the School of Medicine. While at Wayne State he directed of one of the first accredited medical physics graduate programs, with over 150 M.S. and Ph.D. graduates. His major research interests have been bioeffect dose modeling, development of new fractionation and dose-rate regimes, HDR brachytherapy, cervix and breast radiotherapy, radiobiology, radiation carcinogenesis, radiation induced injuries, and radiotherapy physics, and he has taught courses in radiation biology annually to residents, therapists, and physicists. He has served as President of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM), Chairman of the American College of Medical Physics (ACMP), President of the International Organization for Medical Physics, the American Brachytherapy Society (ABS), the International Union for Physical and Engineering Sciences in Medicine (IUPESM), and the International Medical Physics Certification Board. Dr. Orton has published over 20 books, over 290 papers, made over 600 presentations, and has received the major awards of the AAPM, ACMP, ABS, IOMP and IUPESM.

Abstract:

Many medical physicists would like to become leaders, but many will be just as happy working all their lives making valuable contributions to the health and safety of their patients without taking on the added responsibilities of leadership. This talk will review the different types of leadership available to medical physicists, what makes you a “leader”, and what opportunities are there for you to reach your leadership potential.

Leadership can take several forms for medical physicists, such as:

Chief Medical Physicist
Chief Clinical Physicist
Radiation Safety Officer
Director of an educational program
Director of a residency training program
Officer in a regional, national, or international medical physics organization.

In this talk we will discuss a variety of topics, including:

Can anyone be a leader or do leaders need to have special traits (interests, skills, motivation, personality, commitment…)?
Can leadership be taught and, if so, should a teaching program include “leadership” in the curriculum?
Should there be leadership mentorship programs?

How can you work to become a leader?

Day 5 (28 April 2023)

IOMP Webinar: Upright Radiotherapy: Challenges and Opportunities

Friday, 28th April 2023 at 12 pm GMT; Duration 1 hour

View Recording here

CME/CPD credit point shall be awarded for participation in the webinar in full.

Organizer: Eva Bezak, IOMP
Moderator: M Mahesh, IOMP

Speaker: Tracy Underwood, PhD

Dr Tracy Underwood is a Senior Physicist at Leo Cancer Care, an innovative young company who are developing medical devices for upright radiotherapy. She is also a UKRI Future Leaders Fellow and an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at University College London.

As a radiotherapy researcher she has worked at some of the most innovative clinics and academic departments worldwide, including Massachusetts General Hospital / Harvard Medical School in Boston, IUCT Oncopole in Toulouse, the Christie NHS Foundation Trust, the University of Manchester, and the University of Oxford. She is passionate about medical physics education and is part of the editorial board of “The Encyclopaedia of Medical Physics”, which is published as an open resource at http://www.emitel2.eu/, as well as in hardcopy by CRC Press.

Tracy was awarded the 2015 IMechE JRI: Best Medical Engineering PhD Prize and the 2017 Early Career Academic Prize from the UK Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine.

She likes to spend her free time on the beach or in the forest with her husband and two young kids.

Abstract:

Treatments which combine fixed radiation beams with upright, rotating patient positioning systems have been investigated since the advent of radiotherapy. However, recently there has been an upsurge of interest in this topic, as evidenced by new academic publications and commercial systems.

In Heidelberg, one of the only carbon ion gantries in the world weighs ~600 tonnes. For proton therapy, gantries typically weigh ~100-200 tonnes. Even conventional photon gantries weigh ~5 tonnes: around the weight of an adult elephant.

Eliminating the gantry could vastly reduce the radiation shielding required and the 3D footprint of treatment bunkers. It could also reduce the complexity of beam delivery equipment, leading to reduced maintenance, easier upgrades, and lower expertise barriers. These factors can bring down treatment room costs, not just for heavy ion / proton radiotherapy, but also for conventional photon radiotherapy where global access is unacceptably low. There may be tumour sites where upright radiotherapy is better medicine (e.g., lung, liver). For certain patients (e.g., those with head and neck cancers), upright positioning is also likely to prove more comfortable.

Against the advantages of upright radiotherapy, we need to weigh the practical challenges of re-implementing the clinical workflow. Questions also remain over immobilisation and how treatment plan quality and radiotherapy effectiveness will vary with body position.

Given the decades of enhancements across supine radiotherapy, how committed are we to the traditional paradigm? Here we will explore the published evidence, challenges and opportunities associated with upright radiotherapy.