COURSE UNIT TITLE

: PHYSICS OF RADIOTHERAPY II

Description of Individual Course Units

Course Unit Code Course Unit Title Type Of Course D U L ECTS
MDF 5050 PHYSICS OF RADIOTHERAPY II COMPULSORY 2 2 0 4

Offered By

Medical Physics

Level of Course Unit

Second Cycle Programmes (Master's Degree)

Course Coordinator

Offered to

Medical Physics

Course Objective

To have an understanding of properties of dosimetric parameters and dose calculation techniques and to be capable of applying them; to have an understanding of the principles of treatment planning and to be capable of performing appropriate treatment planning and technique; to have the knowledge and skills to implement the intended treatment plan accurately

Learning Outcomes of the Course Unit

1   Ability to comprehend basic properties of dose calculation techniques and apply them
2   Ability to calculate dosimetric parameters, dose distributions and treatment times
3   Ability to discuss the importance of inhomogeneity and contour irregularities that affect the treatment plan
4   Ability to understand the principles of treatment planning system
5   Gaining the knowledge and skills about all of the treatment techniques used in radiotherapy
6   Ability to choose the appropriate treatment plan for the patient, implement the plan appropriately and evaluate the process
7   Ability to formulate the data used in treatment planning and providing their accuracy
8   Ability to select and apply appropriate quality control of the treatment technique
9   Ability to follow the developments and new technologies related to treatment techniques

Mode of Delivery

Face -to- Face

Prerequisites and Co-requisites

None

Recomended Optional Programme Components

None

Course Contents

Week Subject Description
1 Principles of CT simulation, multi modality image recording and fusion, treatment planning system and network (software, hardware, dicom, dicom RT)
2 Dose calculation technique (SSD, SAD, MU), rotational treatment techniques and MU calculations
3 Inhomogeneity correction methods (TAR, power law tissue-air ratio, equivalent tissue-air ratio, isodose shift, correction of contour irregularities, bolus, compansators)
4 Dosimetric concepts (PDD, tissue air ratio TAR, tissue phantom ratio TPR, tissue maximum ratio TMR, backscattering factor BSF, peak scattering factor PSF, scatter air ratio SAR, scatter maximum ratio SMR, collimator scattering correction factor Sc, phantom scattering correction factor Sp)
5 Isodose curves (photon and electron isodose curves, wedge filter isodose curves, determination of wedge angle, geometrical and physical penumbra, determination of field size)
6 Characteristics of dose profiles (flatness and symmetry)
7 Mid-term exam
8 Energy and field selection (selection of energy according to field depth, single and multiple coplanar and non-coplanar fields, fields with and without wedges, fields with a combination of photon and electron, adjacent fields)
9 Principles of treatment planning systems, dose calculation algorithms, MU calculation with fixed SSD and isocentric techniques, heterogenity correction, bolus and flattening filter, virtual simulation (BEV,DDR), plan optimisation and evaluation methods (uniformity, dose constraints, dose volume histograms (DVH), biological parameters (TCP, NTCP))
10 Treatment techniques (2D conventional and 3D conformal, SSD and SAD)
11 Fixed gantry IMRT techniques and treatment planning (MLC based static/dynamic IMRT, Inverse, forward, optimisation) Arc based treatment planning techniques (tomotherapy, IMAT, RapidArc, VMAT, Inverse, Forward, Optimisation)
12 Special radiotherapy techniques (total body irradiation, total skin electron irradiation, stereotactic radiotherapy) Radiotherapy ith respiration control (Active breathing control, gating, tracking, 4DRT)
13 IGRT systems (port film, KV-MV systems, EPID, in room CT, Cone Beam CT, Ultrasound) Quality control for all treatment techniques and radiation safety
14 Treatment planning verification (MU checking using appropriate dosimeters, comparison of planned and calculated dose distributions (gamma index, isodose profiles), set-up verification (EPID, in-vivo dosimetry, cone beam CT))

Recomended or Required Reading

Khan FM, Gerbi BJ. Treatment Planning in Radiation Oncology , Second and Third Edition.
Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Philadelphia, 2007, 2012

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

Wolfgang Schlegel, Thomas Bortfeld, Anca-Ligia Grosu New Technologies in Radiation Oncology Springer, 2006.

Steve Webb, Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy Taylor and Francis, 2001.

Arro J. Mundt, John C. Roeske Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy 2005.

P.Mayles, A.Nahum, J.C.Rasenwald Handbook Of Radiotherapy Physics Theory and Practice Taylor and Francis, 2007.
Course Materials: slides

Planned Learning Activities and Teaching Methods

Using all available technical and dosimetric equipment to make the relevant applications in radiotherapy after having theoretical knowledge about the subject from Turkish and foreign books, periodicals , and protocols.

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


Further Notes About Assessment Methods

None

Assessment Criteria

To be announced.

Language of Instruction

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
Preparations before/after weekly lectures 14 1 14
Preparation for midterm exam 1 12 12
Preparation for final exam 1 18 18
Final 1 1 1
Midterm 1 1 1
TOTAL WORKLOAD (hours) 102

Contribution of Learning Outcomes to Programme Outcomes

PO/LOPO.1PO.2PO.3PO.4PO.5PO.6PO.7PO.8PO.9PO.10PO.11PO.12PO.13PO.14
LO.1555454
LO.255545
LO.3555445
LO.455545
LO.545554544
LO.64454
LO.75554
LO.8544544
LO.9544544