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NEWS |
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| Year : 2010 | Volume
: 35
| Issue : 4 | Page : 247-248 |
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News
| Date of Web Publication | 19-Oct-2010 |
Correspondence Address:
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
How to cite this article:
. News. J Med Phys 2010;35:247-8 |
Seminar on "Current technology for precision radiotherapy" under Association of Medical Physicists of India (Karnataka Chapter)
A 1-day seminar on "Current technology for precision radiation therapy" under the auspices of the Karnataka Chapter of the Association of Medical Physicists of India (AMPI-K) was organized by Bharath Hospital and Institute of Oncology (BHIO), Mysore, in association with Health Care Global (HCG) Enterprises Limited, on Saturday, 24 th July 2010, at Linac Center, BHIO auditorium. Nearly 120 delegates, comprising medical physicists, radiation oncologists, radiation technologists and students, participated in the seminar. There were three scientific sessions, consisting of an oration, lectures by guest lecturers and proffered papers by medical physicists.
The keynote address was delivered by Dr. R. M. Nehru, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, Mumbai, on "Intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT): Promises and pitfalls", in which he emphasized the need of availability of adequately trained manpower and technology-oriented dosimetry equipments for the implementation of IMRT. He also pointed out that IMRT is a time-intensive procedure necessitating proper planning, quality assurance and execution, and he elaborately explained the strengths and weaknesses of this technique. Professor S. L. Keshava, Professor and Head, Department of Radiation Physics, KMIO, Bangalore, was honored with citation and felicitation by Dr. B. S. Ramesh and Dr. Challapalli Srinivas. Due to the increase in the number of hospitals in the private and corporate sector in and around Karnataka and other states and with the installation of various units capable of delivering sophisticated treatments, A souvenir consisting of scientific contents of the seminar was released. Dr. Taraknath, Senior Medical Physicist (retired), delivered an oration on "Advances in radiation therapy for the past 50 years".
The lectures in the seminar covered all the aspects related to current technology in radiotherapy. All modern therapies are a form of IMRT, and theoretically they retain the same advantage and disadvantages. The deliberation on "Tomotherapy: A novel and an unconventional approach of precision radiotherapy towards IMRT" covered the important clinical applications of this radiotherapy technique. Commissioning, quality assurance and dosimetric aspects related to volumetric IMRT arc therapy (RapidArc) technology were highlighted in the lecture on "Clinical implementation of RapidArc technology". Understanding and evaluation of the accuracy of robotic radiosurgery was covered in the lecture on "CyberKnife: Clinical experience". Other proffered papers in the symposia were on "Artiste-160 MLC characteristics", "Quality assurance in Brachytherapy", Physical and clinical aspects of Oncentra IPSA", and Cobalt-60 HDR Brachytherapy. All the scientific deliberations were highly informative and advanced, which were of great value to medical physicists, radiation oncologists, radiotherapy technologists and students of MSc in Medical Radiation Physics and MD in Radiotherapy.
International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) draft statement on Radon and lung cancer
ICRP has formulated a draft Statement statement on "Radon and Lung cancer risk from radon and progeny" to be published in the Annals of the ICRP. For this purpose, recent miner data are used to recommend a revised detriment-adjusted nominal risk coefficient of 5 10-4 per WLM (14 10-5 per mJ h m-3), replacing the ICRP Publication 65 value of 2.8 10-4 per WLM (8 10-5 per mJ h m-3). Consideration of the pooled analyses of epidemiological studies of lung cancer risk from residential exposures is also taken which demonstrates a statistically significant increase per unit of exposure below average annual concentrations of about 200 Bq m-3. The draft statement is available for download and comments in the commission's website
http://www.icrp.org/draft_lung.asp .
International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements (ICRU), Report 83
ICRU published its Report 83 on "Prescribing, Recording, and Reporting Photon-Beam Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT)". The present report provides the information necessary to standardize techniques and procedures and to harmonize the prescribing, recording, and reporting of IMRT where possible with those of other modalities. Applicable concepts and recommendations described in other ICRU reports concerning radiation therapy are adopted and extended where required. This report should serve as a useful reference for current practitioners. It should also provide new users, as well as other interested readers, with the basic background to enable them to understand the techniques involved and the requirements for implementing IMRT.
For abstract:
http://icru.org/index.php?option=com_contentandtask=viewandid=171andItemid=53
Postal dose auditing using optically-stimulated luminescence (OSL) dosimeters
Thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLD) are the most commonly used dose detectors by postal dose auditing agencies for auditing of radiotherapy units world over. The Radiological Physics Center (RPC) of National Cancer Institute (NCI), Houston, USA, has migrated to the use of optically-stimulated luminescence dosimetry for postal dose auditing from the conventional TLD approach. Simpler readout procedures; environmentally more stable, non-destructive reading; minimal fading of signal; and minimal energy dependence are some of the advantages of OSL dosimeters as compared to TLDs. RPC is responsibile to assure the NCI and the cooperative clinical trial groups that all participating institutions have the equipment, personnel, and procedures necessary to administer radiation doses that are clinically comparable and consistent.
From:
http://rpc.mdanderson.org/RPC/Services/OSL_services/OSL_tech.htm
Radiation in medicine: Major source of human exposure to ionizing radiation other than from nature
The print version of the report of the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) on "Radiation in medicine: Major source of human exposure to ionizing radiation other than from nature" (The UNSCEAR 2008 report) has now become available along with its two annexes. According to the findings of the UNSCEAR, use of radiation in medicine is the major source of human exposure to ionizing radiation other than from nature. One of the key findings in the report says that "medical exposures account for 98 per cent of the contribution from all artificial sources and are now the second largest contributor to the population dose worldwide, representing approximately 20 per cent of the total". The report further says that the past decade or so has seen a sharp increase in medical exposures owing, for example, to the rapid expansion in the use of CT scanning, which meant that in several countries medical exposure has displaced exposure due to natural sources of radiation as the largest overall component. The report and the annexes are available on
http://www.unscear.org/unscear/en/publications/2008_1.html.
More information on:
http://www.unis.unvienna.org/unis/pressrels/2010/unisous044.html
Stanford University's X-ray laser promises new discoveries
Stanford University researchers have built the world's most powerful x-ray laser, which they hope will lead to new discoveries in drug development, energy production and computer science. The only one of its kind in the world, the laser produces ultra-bright, ultrafast x-ray pulses from a high-energy electron beam. It enables scientists to view matter on a scale of individual atoms and to take stop-motion pictures of moving atoms and molecules. The laser already has helped scientists create "hollow atoms" after stripping atoms such as neon completely bare of their electrons from the inside out. It also imaged bacteria and parts of the photosynthetic system found in plants.
From:http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/gadgets/article582049.ece dated August 19, 2010.
Orphaned cobalt-60 radioactive source found at Genova Voltri port, Italy
A container of metal scraps that arrived at the Genova Port in Italy on July 13, 2010 (from Jeddah in Saudi Arabia), was found to have an orphaned 60 Co radioactive source. It was detected on July 20th, when an elevated gamma rate was detected in corrispondence of a container of metal scraps. The hottest spot on the container's surface had a dose rate of 600 mSv/h. At one meter the dose rate was 40 mSv/h. There was no surface contamination of the container. The source was estimated to have an activity of 150 to 200 GBq.
Potential doses attributable to the workers of the terminal were evaluated with conservative assumptions. The highest effective dose (0.225 mSv) was received by the operator responsible for the removal of the container legs during the unloading of the container from the ship, whereas others in the harbor area received effective dose < 1 mSv.
Investigation activities are in progress.
From:
http://www-news.iaea.org
IAEA calls for cordon around highly contaminated areas at former nuclear site
The International Day against Nuclear Tests was observed for the first time on August 29, 2010. At a gathering to mark this day, held in Astana, Kazakhstan, on 26 th August 2010, the IAEA expressed its commitment to the Kazakhstan government and its people to assist in rehabilitating and developing the closed Soviet-era nuclear test site at Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan, which was, in part, heavily contaminated by radioactivity. Since the local population and their grazing cattle could be inadvertently exposed to high levels of radioactive contamination, authorities were urged to appropriately mark and secure contaminated areas.
From:
http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/News/2010/iaea_kazakhstan.html
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