Project description
An enlightened monitoring system reduces risks associated with localised radiotherapy
The ability to deliver medicine exactly where it is needed typically results in more effective treatment at lower doses with fewer side-effects than treatments with lower spatial or temporal resolution. Just as a nasal inhaler works on this principle, radiation to treat cancer has benefited from increasingly localised administration through brachytherapy (placing encapsulated radioactive material inside the body in the area of cancerous tissue). Given that radiation can have much more serious side-effects on healthy cells than a nasal inhalant, clinicians monitor its administration in real-time. The EU-funded ORIGIN project is developing a vastly improved methodology, a photonics-based optical dose imaging and localisation system whose resolution will significantly reduce the overall risk of treatment error.
Objective
ORIGIN aims to deliver more effective, photonics-enabled, brachytherapy for cancer treatment through advanced real-time radiation dose imaging and source localisation. This will be achieved by the development of a new optical fibre based sensor system to support diagnostics-driven therapy through enhanced adaptive brachytherapy. A 16-point optical fibre sensors system will be developed, for Low Dose Rate (LDR) and High Dose Rate (HDR) Brachytherapy, with sensitivity of 150 counts/Gy for LDR- and 2500 counts/mGy for HDR- BT alongside a dedicated data acquisition system providing a dose mapping system with a spatial resolution of 0.5mm (HDR) and 3mm (LDR) and time resolution of 0.1s (HDR) and 0.5s (LDR), with 5% uncertainty. This is a 50% improvement in uncertainty over existing systems. Further interrogation of the optical signal will provide real-time monitoring of the radiation source location during treatment. The ORIGIN system will be integrated into existing clinical brachytherapy treatment planning and delivery systems to confirm that the dose prescribed to the tumour is achieved, whilst ensuring the dose to organs at risk (OARs) is within acceptable limits. This will provide for optimised dose-led, patient-oriented, personalised treatment plans leading to improved patient outcomes and prevention of treatment errors, with the potential to reduce the overall risk of treatment error by 55%. The optical fibre radiation dosimeters will be further optimised for improved optical signal collection efficiency, higher signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and repeatable high volume fabrication. Taking manufacturability into consideration from the outset will ensure that ORIGIN establishes Europe at the fore of brachytherapy system development and photonics manufacturing.
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Funding Scheme
RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinator
- Limerick
Ireland