Cancer Care Centers of Brevard Physicist Prabhu Makes Presentation at the Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM)
Meeting on July 29 at the Charlotte Convention Center in North Carolina.
BBN - Vol. 30 No. 32 (August 6, 2012) - by Ken Datzman

Cancer Care Centers of Brevard’s physicist Anand Prabhu made a poster presentation at the 54th annual American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) Meeting on July 29 at the Charlotte Convention Center in North Carolina.

The presentation, “Use of BrainLab — ExacTrac IGRT with Dot Decimal electron compensator (BolusECT) for Accurate Patient Positioning,” is the result of a study conducted by Prabhu and his CCCB colleagues including chief medical physicist Daljit Saini, physicist Bhavin Patadiva, dosimetrist Tod Garthwaite and medical director and radiation oncologist Dr. Ravi Shankar.

Dot Decimal electron compensators are used to achieve conformal dose distributions that significantly spare critical organs from unnecessary radiation exposure. The compensators are beneficial for cases with varying patient contours with steep gradients. These cases are treated with single–electron fields and the setup can be difficult and time–consuming for patients because of the small clearance between the electron cone and the bolus, said Prabhu.

In order to avoid patient discomfort, the study explored the use of BrainLab’s ExacTrac Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT) system for enhanced setup accuracy and speed. The test included a specifically designed wax phantom and BolusECT. The plan was achieved using Varian Eclipse Planning System and Dot Decimal electron compensator software.

Prabhu and his colleagues then focused on two patient studies with the nose as the targeted treatment area in each patient. Five holes were drilled into this wax compensator and tungsten fiducials, or markers, were inserted at different depths.

As a result of both of these studies, the ExacTrac system correctly aligned with the implanted fiducials and demonstrated that the use of BrainLab’s ExacTrac IGRT system with the Dot Decimal electron compensator provides more accurate daily positioning and faster patient setup.

“I was excited and honored to represent CCCB at this prestigious meeting,” said Prabhu. “We take tremendous pride in working together to study how advanced technologies can enhance the overall comfort level and effectiveness for patients undergoing radiation therapy treatments. We believe that the results from our study are just another example of why it is imperative for us to continue to test and measure the efficacy of current and future technologies in radiation therapy.”

For more information about CCCB, call 952–0898.