COURSE UNIT TITLE

: BRACHTHERAPY

DEGREE PROGRAMMES

Description of Individual Course Units

Course Unit Code Course Unit Title Type Of Course D U L ECTS
MDF 5052 BRACHTHERAPY ELECTIVE 2 2 0 3

Offered By

Medical Physics

Level of Course Unit

Second Cycle Programmes (Master's Degree)

Course Coordinator

Lecturer Dr. NEZAHAT OLACAK

Offered to

Medical Physics

Course Objective

The aim of this course is to provide students the understanding of the basic properties of brachytherapy devices, the ability to design the implantation techniques, to select appropriate planning techniques for patient, to calculate the dose and duration of treatment and to perform quality control tests.

Learning Outcomes of the Course Unit

1   Ability to understand brachytherapy planning programs
2   Capability of following technological developments in brachytherapy
3   Ability to perform research and development in various topics related with brachytherapy
4   Ability of decision-making for the precautions to be taken in brachytherapy
5   Ability to demonstrate an understanding of the basic principles of radiation safety in brachytherapy practice.

Mode of Delivery

Face -to- Face

Prerequisites and Co-requisites

None

Recomended Optional Programme Components

None

Course Contents

Week Subject Description
1 Historical development and characteristics of brachytherapy
2 The physical properties of radioactive sources, half-life, specific activity, average energy and source design.
3 Applicator types
4 High (HDR), medium (MDR) and low (LDR) dose rate treatment devices.
5 Activity of radionuclide, equivalent mass of radium, dose rate at a point in air, air-kerma rate at a reference point in the air, total reference air-kerma.
6 Permanents implants, temporary implants (superficial, interstitial, intracavitary, intraluminal)
7 Applicators and application techniques used in intracavitary brachyherapy, (Paris, Stockholm, Manchester, Houston) reference dose points, isodose distribution and dose volume histograms, ICRU 38 protocol
8 Midterms
9 Applicators and application techniques used in interstitial brachytherapy, (Manchester, Quimby, Paris) reference dose points, isodose distributions and dose volume histograms.
10 Applicators and application technique used in intraluminal brachytherapy, isodose distribution and dose volume histograms, ICRU 58 protocol.
11 Source / applicator localization techniques.
12 Gross tumor volume, clinical target volume, planning volume, treatment volume, irradiated volume, high dose volume, organs at risk.
13 Dose protocols, dose and duration of treatment, isodose distributions, dose volume histograms, optimization.
14 Quality control (hardware test, device functions, source and applicator controls, control of treatment planning systems, radiation safety, dosimetry.) and The calibration of brachytherapy sources.

Recomended or Required Reading

Khan FM. The physics of radiation therapy , Second, Third and Fourth Edition. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Philadelphia, 1994, 2003, 2009.

Edward C. Halperin, Carlos A. Perez, Luther W. Brady Principles and Practice of Radiation Oncology Third, Fourth and Fifth Edition. 1997, 2003, 2008.

ICRU Report 38. Dose and Volume Specification for Reporting Intracavitary Therapy in Gynecology . Bethesda, Maryland, USA. International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements. 1985

ICRU Report 58. Dose Volume Specification for Reporting Interstitial Therapy . Bethesta, 1997.

AAPM Recommendation of AAPM Task Group 32: Specification of Brachytherapy Source Strength . Report 21. Task Group 32 of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine. New York, American Institute of Physics, 1987.

Delclos L., Flectcher G. H.: Gynecologic Cancer . Philadelphia, Lea & Febiga, 1992.

Planned Learning Activities and Teaching Methods

Assessment Methods

SORTING NUMBER SHORT CODE LONG CODE FORMULA
1 MTE MIDTERM EXAM
2 FIN FINAL EXAM
3 FCG FINAL COURSE GRADE MTE * 0.40 + FIN* 0.60
4 RST RESIT
5 FCGR FINAL COURSE GRADE MTE * 0.40 + RST* 0.60


*** Resit Exam is Not Administered in Institutions Where Resit is not Applicable.

Further Notes About Assessment Methods

None

Assessment Criteria

To be announced.

Language of Instruction

Turkish

Course Policies and Rules

To be announced.

Contact Details for the Lecturer(s)

To be announced.

Office Hours

To be announced.

Work Placement(s)

None

Workload Calculation

Activities Number Time (hours) Total Work Load (hours)
Lectures 14 2 28
Tutorials 14 2 28
Preparation for midterm exam 1 9 9
Preparation for final exam 1 15 15
Final 1 1 1
Midterm 1 1 1
TOTAL WORKLOAD (hours) 82

Contribution of Learning Outcomes to Programme Outcomes

PO/LOPO.1PO.2PO.3PO.4PO.5PO.6PO.7PO.8PO.9PO.10PO.11PO.12PO.13PO.14
LO.1454
LO.24454
LO.354
LO.44544
LO.555545

CONTACT INFORMATION
Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Cumhuriyet Bulvarı No: 144 35210 Alsancak / İZMİR
Phone: +90(232) 412 12 12 - Fax: +90 (232) 464 81 35

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