discovered_01_2013

discovered 01.13 COLLABORATION WWW.Hzdr.DE For about 60 percent of cancer patients in modern industrialized nations, radiation therapy significantly contributes to curing this widespread disease. Experts are in agreement that, in addition to conventional photon therapy using ultra hard X-rays from linear electron accelerators, particle therapy will also become an established modality of cancer treatment in the future. Comprehensive studies are required to confirm the benefits of this type of therapy. Particles include protons – hydrogen atoms that were stripped of their electron –, electrically charged carbon atoms, or ions of other elements. As part of a joint project by the Carl Gustav Carus University Hospital Dresden and the HZDR, a new facility for clinical research and further technological development is currently being installed on the university hospital campus. The main goal is to establish proton beams over the next ten to fifteen years as an affordable and highly effective form of therapy in the clinical setting. An important prerequisite is the ability to monitor therapeutic irradiation in real-time. This is especially important in the case of particle beams, since they deposit a substantial amount of their energy within a pinhead-sized volume in the body. The position of this volume can be very precisely // The name of the European project ENVISION gets straight to the point: the aim is to visualize the invisible particle beam inside the patient’s body. _Text . Christine Bohnet Therapeutic beams for clinical application EXPERIMENT: Christian Golnik and Anne Dreyer are mounting a camera prototype to measure high-energy photons. In particle therapy, the irradiated tissue sends out similar rays. If their site of origin can be identified, this would allow for real-time monitoring of the therapy. The ultimate goal is a camera system that can be used in the clinical setting. Photo: Guntram Pausch/OncoRay

discovered_01_2013

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