Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	GR/R10165/01
Title:	Application of Monte-Carlo Dose Calculation To Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT)
Principal Investigator:	Bidmead, Miss A
Other Investigators:	Webb, Professor S Dance, Dr DR Dance, Dr D
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Department:	Physics
Organisation:	Institute of Cancer Research
Scheme:	Standard Research (Pre-FEC)
Starts:	02 January 2001	Ends:	01 July 2004	Value (£):	186,958
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Med.Instrument.Device& Equip. Medical science & disease
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:	Healthcare
Related Grants:
Panel History:
Summary on Grant Application Form
Intensity-modulated radiation therapy using high-energy photon beams can produce dose distributions that wrap around concave shaped tumour volumes and hence spare nearby critical organs such as the spinal cord and heart. Consequently it is undergoing rapid development and will soon be in widespread clinical use. However, two of the primary sites where IMRT will be applied, the head-and-neck and lung, are significantly heterogeneous, containing tissues of widely differing densities such as soft tissue, bone, lung and also air cavities. Accurate does computation for complex IM beams in such heterogeneities is beyond capability of conventional i.e. analytical does computation methods which all contain more or less serious approximations. Monte-Carlo simulations, however, correctly model the physics of radiation transport (photons and electrons) in heterogeneous media and modern computer hardware has made calculation times practical.We will apply MC methods to does computation in patients undergoing IMRT. Furthermore, the generation of these IM beams by the two current approaches of static and dynamic multileaf collimation will also be MC-simulated to ensure correct representation of the initial state of the IM beams. The project will answer important questions about the current and future status of IMRT does computation in patients, with the ultimate aim of putting the dosimetry of IMRT on a completely secure basis.
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Organisation Website:	http://www.icr.ac.uk