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MEDICAL PHYSICS
ANNUAL REPORT
2012
including
IMAGING PHYSICS
and
RADIATION ONCOLOGY PHYSICS
Annual Report 2012
Medical Physics
The Ottawa Hospital
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report addresses the medical physics professional practice at TOH and also summarises
the operational activities of the radiation oncology medical physics group.
Imaging Physicists at TOH are specialized in nuclear medicine, nuclear cardiology and
magnetic resonance imaging, providing clinical and research support to The Ottawa Hospital
and Heart Institute: Ian Cameron and Rebecca Thornhill to Magnetic Resonance Imaging,
Department of Medical Imaging, and Robert deKemp and Glenn Wells to the Department of
Cardiac Imaging at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute (UOHI). In 2012, the Cardiac
Imaging program at the heart institute performed approximately 5,500 cardiac SPECT and
1,500 cardiac PET scans for the diagnosis and management of patients with ischemic heart
disease. Approximately 35,000 MRI exams were performed at TOH in 2012.
The focus for Cardiac Imaging Physics at UOHI in 2012 has been the reduction of radiation
exposure in nuclear cardiology procedures and development of the cardiac MRI program. In
nuclear cardiology (SPECT) imaging, half-dose protocols were introduced for myocardial
perfusion imaging with technetium-99m. The cardiac PET program at UOHI, leading the
Canadian multi-centre trial ‘Rubidium-82 Alternative Radiopharmaceutical for Myocardial
Imaging’ by Dr. deKemp, completed enrolment of over 5000 patients at 6 participating
clinical imaging centres.
The Radiation Oncology Physics group at The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre provides
scientific and technical support to the Radiation Medicine Program, relating in general terms
to the calibration and ongoing verification of the accuracy of the radiation dose delivered to
radiation therapy patients. In 2012, the Radiation Medicine Program treated 4,060 patients
through a total of 75,790 individual treatments, an increase of 5.0% over 2011.
The focus of the radiation oncology physics group this year has been the improvement of
the safety and efficiency of various aspects of radiation treatment and included the
development of customised software to record, track and analyse routine quality control
measurements and a failure modes and effect analysis applied to two clinical processes. The
new quality control tracking software has generated considerable excitement in the
radiation treatment community with several requests for collaboration.
A focus for all groups this year was the development of a document describing the
professional practice of medical physics in general and the practice at TOH in particular.
In addition to clinical service, the group published 14 peer reviewed articles, gave 15 invited
presentations and presented an additional 53 papers at national and international
conferences. Members of the group supervised 13 graduate students, 1 post doctoral fellow
and 4 summer students, and delivered clinical imaging physics lectures to medical residents
and research fellows in the University of Ottawa Radiology, Radiation Oncology and Cardiac
Imaging residency programs and to the Nuclear Medicine Fellowship Programs at UOHI. Our
radiation oncology physics residency program was awarded reaccreditation for 5 years.
Joanna Cygler, Senior Medical Physicist with the group since August 1986, achieved the
rank of Full Professor in the Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine at the University
of Ottawa this year. This is a significant achievement and recognises Joanna’s international
reputation for her research into electron beam and in-vivo dosimetry, as well as her clinical,
teaching and mentoring skills. Congratulations also to Jason Bélec who completed his
doctoral thesis this year working part time and aided by a grant from Elekta. During 2012,
Lee Gerig retired after 31 years of service, Nicolas Ploquin moved to a University of Calgary
position and Richard Webb accepted a position with Elekta. We recruited Claire Foottit to the
radiation oncology physics group on completion of her residency training.
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Medical Physics
The Ottawa Hospital
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive Summary............................................................. 2
Staff List ............................................................................ 4
Administration .................................................................... 5
Radiation Safety.................................................................. 6
Clinical Activities – Radiation Oncology .................................. 7
Development ......................................................................... 7
Treatment Unit Quality Assurance............................................. 8
Treatment Planning ................................................................ 8
Tomotherapy ......................................................................... 9
Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy (SABR) .............................. 10
Brachytherapy ..................................................................... 12
Technical Services ................................................................ 12
Clinical Activities – Imaging ................................................. 15
MR Imaging ......................................................................... 15
Cardiac and Nuclear Medicine Imaging .................................... 15
Academic Activities ............................................................. 17
Representation on External Committees ................................ 21
Research ........................................................................... 22
1 Peer Reviewed Publications ................................................ 22
2 Books / Chapters / Other ................................................... 23
3 Invited Presentations ........................................................ 23
4 Oral Presentations at National & International Conferences .... 24
5 Poster Presentations at National & International Conferences . 25
6 Internal Presentations ....................................................... 28
7 Research Funding ............................................................. 30
8 Research & Development Projects ....................................... 31
9 Graduate Theses Completed this Year ................................. 35
10 Projects Completed this Year ............................................ 35
11 National/International Conference Representation ............... 36
Profile of Physicists ............................................................. 37
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Medical Physics
The Ottawa Hospital
STAFF LIST
Medical Physics Professional Practice Chief
Brenda G. Clark, Ph.D., FCCPM, FAAPM
Imaging Physicists (Cardiology and Radiology)
Robert A. deKemp, Ph.D., P.Eng., P.Phys Head Physicist, Cardiac Imaging, UOHI
R. Glenn Wells, Ph.D., FCCPM. Imaging Physicist, Cardiac Imaging, UOHI
Ian G. Cameron, Ph.D., FCCPM. Senior Medical Physicist, MRI Unit, TOH
Rebecca Thornhill, Ph.D, Cardiac MRI Physicist, TOH and UOHI
Radiation Safety Officer (TOH Cancer Centre)
David E. Wilkins, Ph.D., FCCPM
Senior Medical Physicists (Radiation Oncology)
Joanna E. Cygler, Ph.D., FCCPM, FAAPM
Lee H. Gerig, Ph.D., FCCPM
Elizabeth Henderson, Ph.D., FCCPM
Janos Szanto, Ph.D., FCCPM
Medical Physicists (Radiation Oncology)
Crystal Angers, M.Sc., MCCPM
Jason Bélec, Ph.D., MCCPM
Lesley Buckley, Ph.D., MCCPM (maternity leave, June 2012-June 2013)
Claire Foottit, Ph.D. (from October 2012)
Danielle Fraser, Ph.D., MCCPM
Chun-Bun Kwok, Ph.D., MCCPM
Daniel La Russa, Ph.D., MCCPM
Katie Lekx-Toniolo, Ph.D., MCCPM (maternity leave, June 2011-June 2012)
Malgorzata Niedbala, Ph.D., MCCPM
Balazs Nyiri, Ph.D., MCCPM
Nicolas Ploquin, Ph.D., MCCPM
Ryan Studinski, Ph.D., MCCPM
Eric Vandervoort, Ph.D. MCCPM
Medical Physics “Elekta” Fellow
Jason Bélec, Ph.D., MCCPM (50%)
Imaging Physics “Ernest and Margaret Ford Cardiology Endowed Research” Fellow
Etienne Croteau, Ph.D.
Administrative Support
Kirsten Berry
Doris Vieira
Medical Physics Associates
Janet Hendry, M.Sc.
Randle Taylor, M.Sc.
Medical Physics Technologists
Chris Lambert, B.Sc.
Andrew Richardson, M.Sc.
Julie-Maude Leblanc, B.Sc.
Justin Sutherland, M.Sc.
Silvia Neuteboom, B.Sc.
Miro Vujicic, M.Sc.
Medical Physics Residents
Andrew Alexander, Ph.D.
Claire Foottit, Ph.D.
Elsayed Ali, Ph.D.
Michael Roumeliotis, Ph.D.
Amanda Cherpak, Ph.D.
Technical Services (Electronics/Machine Shop)
Senior Radiotherapy Service Technologist
Don Petzold
Electronics
Farhoud Abbassian
Georges Gohier
Dylan Loose
Tony Magee
Machine Shop
Bernie Lavigne
Ron Romain
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Don Lesway
Richard Webb
BGC/DV/May 2013
Annual Report 2012
Medical Physics
The Ottawa Hospital
ADMINISTRATION
•
Recruitment of Claire Foottit, Ph.D,. into a medical physicist position in October following
her successful completion of our CAMPEP accredited physics residency training program
•
Recruitment of Michael Roumeliotis, Ph.D., into a physics residency position in January
after completion of his doctoral degree at the University of Western Ontario under the
supervision of Jeffrey Carson on the design, synthesis and characterization of a
hemispherical, sparse detector array to produce photoacoustic images
•
Recruitment of Elsayed Ali, Ph.D. into a physics residency position in September after
completion of his doctoral degree at Carleton University under the supervision of David
W. O. Rogers on the topic of “A novel physics-based approach for unfolding clinical
photon spectra from transmission measurements and depth-dose curves”
•
Recruitment of Justin Sutherland, M.Sc. and Miro Vujicic, M.Sc. into temporary Physics
Technologist positions in January
•
Preparation and submission to CAMPEP of an application for reaccreditation of our
medical physics residency program
•
Preparation and publication of a report summarising the results generated by the
consistent use of a radiation specific incident learning system over the past 5 years
•
Attendance at two TOH Leadership Development Institutes numbers 8 and 9 at the
Hampton Inn, 9-10 February and 14-15 June
•
Preparation and submission to Cancer Care Ontario of a request for capital equipment
totalling approximately $7.8m and including the following 8 prioritised requests:
1. Replacement of a Siemens Primus accelerator
2. Upgrade of existing TomoTherapy unit
3. Upgrade of existing treatment planning hardware
4. VMAT licenses for 2 Elekta accelerators
5. Upgrade for 2 CT scanners
6. Brachytherapy upgrade for HDR prostate treatments
7. Additional treatment planning licences for IMRT
8. MLC Upgrade for 2 Elekta Synergy accelerators
Funding for items 3, 6 and 7 was approved in February and funding for a replacement
Siemens accelerator (item #1) approved in January 2013, together with additional
funding for the radiation oncology information system maintenance, to bring the total
funding for the year to approximately $7m.
•
Preparation and submission of the annual budget for the Medical Physics department
and the capital equipment requests for the Radiation Medicine Program which included a
4 items totalling $571k at priority #1 (required by legislation or essential for patient
care/service delivery/safety) and 4 items totalling $282k at priority #2 (Equipment
would significantly and demonstrably improve patient care/service delivery/safety)
•
Preparation and publication of this Annual Report summarising the activities of the
Medical Physics Department
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Medical Physics
The Ottawa Hospital
RADIATION SAFETY
The Radiation Safety Program at The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre continues to contribute
to safe operation of the Radiation Medicine Program, with very low staff doses and one
reportable incident in 2012. Radiation safety activities this year included:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Inspections of all Cancer Centre radiation areas, performed by DW and Lamri Cheriet
of the Radiation Safety and Health Physics Department (RSHP);
Notification to the CNSC of the change in Applicant Authority and Designated
Supervising Physician, and associated licence amendment requests;
Update of room numbering, and associated licence amendment requests;
Change of the Annual Compliance Reporting period and the personal dosimeter
period to synchronize with the calendar year;
Investigation and reporting to the CNSC of one anomalous high staff dosimeter
reading;
Installation of mirrors at CyberKnife to improve Last Person Out room visibility;
Implementation of TLD monitoring of perimeter doses on CyberKnife to collect data
for CNSC licensing;
Radiation surveys of both tomotherapy units;
Visit CNSC offices to discuss licensing of CyberKnife and tomotherapy units;
Submission of request for CNSC approval of core drilling of Unit 4 shielded wall for
concrete testing, with surveys before and after drilling;
Visit CNSC offices to do user testing of pilot on-line Annual Compliance Reporting
software.
Radiation safety training provided for all staff in the Radiation Medicine Program,
consisting of 24 sessions on 4 different topics, with a total of 166 participants.
Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care Advisory Workshop: Ensuring Quality and Safety of
Medical Imaging in Ontario, 12 December 2012, Toronto:
The Healing Arts Radiation Protection Act and regulations in the X-Ray Safety Code
govern the use of medical X-Rays in Ontario. The act and regulations are outdated
and need revision. The MoHLTC convened a panel of 20 experts for a consultative
workshop to seek advice on governance and oversight of the medical imaging system
in Ontario. Participants included radiologists, medical physicists, medical radiation
technologists, radiation oncologists, cardiologists, health physicists, and regulators.
David Wilkins of The Ottawa Hospital was one of 3 medical physicists invited to this
workshop.
The success of the Radiation Safety Program depends on fostering a positive safety culture
to encourage staff to use safe practices in their daily activities. We are fortunate in the
Radiation Medicine Program to have an excellent safety culture. I am grateful for the
support offered by the Radiation Safety and Health Physics Department, in particular
Michèle Légaré, Jon Aro, Leah Shuparski, Lamri Cheriet, Jodi Ploquin, and Hung Tan.
David Wilkins
Radiation Safety Officer
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Annual Report 2012
Medical Physics
The Ottawa Hospital
CLINICAL ACTIVITIES – RADIATION ONCOLOGY
Development
•
Design and development of software (QATrack+) designed to consolidate the collection,
storage, analysis and trending of quality control test data. It was developed in-house
using a modern software platform and has been made available to the greater Medical
Physics community as an open source web-based application. This software tool has
already generated considerable excitement in the radiation oncology physics community
and our development group, led by Crystal Angers and Randle Taylor, has received
considerable kudos, not only from other Canadian centres but also from industry.
•
The application of Failure Modes and Effect Analysis to two clinical processes: out-ofhours emergency treatments and tomotherapy. This is a standard tool used in the
manufacturing industry but has rarely been applied to existing processes, rather it is
generally used during the manufacture of a new product. We have applied this technique
to two routine clinical processes to quantify risk and identify measures to reduce risk in
these specific processes. For each process, a multidisciplinary team led by a medical
physicist was convened to identify potential failure modes for each step in the process,
together with severity, frequency of occurrence and detectability. The results of these
analyses were presented at the annual meeting of the Canadian Association of Radiation
Oncology meeting in Ottawa in September and have been used to identify measures to
increase the safety of these clinical processes.
•
Completion of a study to determine precise output factors for the very small fields used
by the CyberKnife treatment unit resulting in an adjustment enhancing the accuracy of
these treatments by up to 5%.
•
Design and development of a solid-water bullet phantom for CyberKnife to improve the
accuracy of patient-specific quality assurance.
•
Development of a fiducial implant method for CyberKnife using the conventional
simulator in the brachytherapy suite
•
Development of a SABR technique for the treatment of prostate cancer
•
Rationalisation and streamlining of routine tomotherapy QC, details given later in the
report
•
Development of a customised QC program for VMAT. This included the development and
implementation of 4 new routine QC tests: cumulative sliding window, absolute sliding
window, gantry speed and dose rate and leaf gap assessment.
•
Rationalisation of the Elekta image guidance clinical process which reduced the imaging
dose to the patient by ~60%, reduced the X-ray tube heat load thereby extending the
life of this expensive part and also substantially reduced each occurrence of use of the
cone-beam CT imager, thereby increasing patient throughput on all our Elekta
accelerators
•
Development and implementation of a high precision CT scale verification device and
analysis technique
•
Development of a wide field array calibration procedure for large diode detector arrays
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Medical Physics
The Ottawa Hospital
Treatment Unit Quality Assurance
•
Routine monitoring of QA compliance by the physics infrastructure group with issues
being tracked by the Radiation Equipment Review Committee (RERC) until completion
•
Implementation of QATrack+ for daily and monthly QC test results
•
Verification of Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT) on Elekta Synergy and Synergy
S units. This effort spanned almost 2 years and involved input from many members of
the physics team including electronics, physics technologists, physics residents and
medical physicists. VMAT treatments involve gantry rotation in addition to beam shaping
while the beam is on and are significantly more complex to plan and deliver than
conventional intensity modulated treatments. Our first patient was treated with VMAT in
June on Unit 23 and four units are currently commissioned for this treatment, Units 8, 9,
22 and 23. A substantial amount of time and effort was expended into attempts to
commission Unit 6 but problems with the dose rate stability, which do not affect
traditional treatments, have to date prevented clinical release of this unit for VMAT
treatments. Further details of this commissioning effort are described in the
commissioning report, available on request.
Treatment Planning
•
Supervision of treatment planning and computer data management for external beam
therapy and brachytherapy
•
Quality assurance of treatment plans – all computerised treatment plans generated at
the centre are independently checked by medical physicists prior to use for patient
treatments.
•
A total of 4,596 treatment plans (computerised dose distributions) were generated in
2012, 3% fewer than the 4,722 recorded in 2011. The plot of monthly activity shows the
usual considerable fluctuation throughout the year with an average of 383 plans
generated per month or 88.4 per week.
600
Average 383 plans/month
# Plans
500
400
456
371
401
426
450
400
395
360
343
328
337
Sep
Oct
329
300
200
100
0
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Nov
Dec
Month
2012 Treatment Planning Activity
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Annual Report 2012
Medical Physics
The Ottawa Hospital
•
Since 2005, we have seen an overall 12% increase in number of treatments (fractions)
delivered, with a temporary reduction in 2008-2009 during our capital expansion but a
steady increase over the last 4 years.
•
A major program improvement this year was the introduction of a comprehensive 3
week treatment planning course developed by the treatment planner group to provide a
basic introduction to treatment planning for radiation oncology residents, medical
physics residents and radiation therapists. This course was first given in September and
repeated in November and has been very well received, filling a need that has been
apparent for some time.
Fractions Delivered
80,000
75,000
70,000
65,000
60,000
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Year
•
Installation and commissioning of a software package for platform-independent image
fusion and dose summation (Velocity)
•
Coordination of two major upgrades to our primary treatment planning software suite:
CMS XiO, Focal and Monaco from Elekta
•
Increase in capacity of IMRT treatment planning through the addition of four new CMS
Monaco servers and the upgrading the existing six servers to faster hardware
•
Hardware upgrade to the XiO servers and XiO Multivue workstations
•
Development of several scripts to monitor the consistency of our beam models
•
Development of a process for treatment planner accreditation
Tomotherapy
The tomotherapy program makes use of two helical accelerators to deliver intensity
modulated radiation treatments. Tomotherapy is advantageous for the irradiation of patients
with extensive disease, e.g., multiple myeloma, mesothelioma or sarcoma, and/or disease
requiring a large amount of radiation modulation to spare normal surrounding tissues, e.g.,
head and neck cancer, breast cancer including nodal involvement or anal cancer. The
tomotherapy physics group consists of 5 medical physicists and 5 physics technologists. On
a daily basis, physics support is assigned to 2 medical physicists (equipment quality
assurance, treatment planning consultation, treatment plan verification, project
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Annual Report 2012
Medical Physics
The Ottawa Hospital
development) and 1 physics technologist (patient dose delivery verification). In calendar
year 2012, the tomotherapy physics group has undertaken the following work:
•
Re-implementation of the adaptive software
This software facilitates the
calculation of the treatment dose received by the patients based on the positioning scan
acquired before each treatment. This dose may also be compared with the treatment
plan to determine whether treatment modifications are required.
•
Implementation of a major software upgrade This upgrade includes dose
calculation accuracy improvements for low modulation treatments of disease located at a
position away from the machine axis of rotation.
•
Development of a Monte Carlo calculation algorithm to improve the accuracy of
dose delivered to lung cancer patients. This algorithm is used to verify and improve the
dose calculation by accounting for the continuous motion of the accelerator and the
continuous deformation of the patient anatomy during treatments.
•
Lung treatment time reduction Transfer of inverse-planned lung SABR treatments
from tomotherapy to a conventional linear accelerator using volumetric modulated arc
therapy. The treatment time (including scan, positioning, delivery) was reduced from
about 45 minutes to less than 20 minutes.
•
Quality assurance tests rationalization and improvements to allow a more rapid
identification of faulty or mis-calibrated machine components (jaws, MLC, focal spot,
output, beam energy) causing differences between expected and measured treatment
dose distributions. The new tests were used to fix recurrent problems observed on the
machine in the last few years.
•
Retrospective analysis of head and neck cancer recurrence A total of 15 head
and neck cancer patient with recurrence were analysed. Post treatment scans were
registered with delivered dose distributions using rigid and/or deformable image
registration. The majority of tumor recurrences were unexpectedly found to be located in
anatomy receiving full prescription dose.
•
Development of an in-vivo radio-chromic film dosimetry method to verify skin
dose in two dimensions for extensive scalp treatments.
•
Retrospective analysis of superficial (skin) dose for head and neck cancer
(ongoing). Monte Carlo simulation is used to calculate the dose received by the various
superficial skin layers. This dose is not well modeled by the clinical planning system. This
information will be used to improve guidelines on the use of bolus and flash.
•
Improvements in patient specific dose verification Development of a method to
analyse and understand causes of failed pre-treatment dose verification measurements
(ongoing). Out-of-tolerance measurement values (from the Delta4 detector) are
projected onto the planned MLC sinogram and also compared with the on-board imaging
detector data acquired during the measurements.
Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy (SABR)
Stereotactic ablative radiotherapy refers to the high precision treatment of relatively small
targets with a high dose of radiation delivered in a low (generally 1-5) number of
treatments or fractions. At TOHCC, the main technique for the delivery of SABR treatments
is our CyberKnife unit, installed in August 2010.
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Annual Report 2012
Medical Physics
The Ottawa Hospital
Highlights of the 2012 CyberKnife program:
•
CyberKnife Symposium We hosted a half-day CyberKnife symposium, held
immediately after the annual scientific meeting of the Canadian Association of Radiation
Oncologists (CARO) in Ottawa in September. This symposium included invited speakers
from the Montreal and Hamilton CyberKnife centers and attendees from across Canada.
•
Adjustment of circular field output factors A major focus of our physics research
work on CyberKnife has been to verify proposed correction factors to CyberKnife output
factor measurements which are very challenging to measure due to the small size of the
CyberKnife radiation beam relative to our measurement devices. This work generated
several conference presentations and a useful collaboration with a CyberKnife center in
Vincenza, Italy. The 2012 change in the CyberKnife output factors used at TOHCC has
resulted in up to a 5% increase in the accuracy of CyberKnife dose, the precise value
dependent on the patient specific parameters.
•
Major System Upgrades A major treatment planning hardware and software upgrade
and treatment delivery software upgrade that has allowed us to reduce planning and
treatment times
•
Clinical Trial Accreditation The treatment of five prostate patients and subsequent
accreditation for the RTOG clinical trial 0938 to investigate the efficacy of this new
radiation therapy technique
•
Completion of Monte Carlo radiation beam model commissioning This calculation
algorithm provides increased accuracy in the determination of radiation dose in
heterogeneous media, e.g., close to lung, and is a useful independent check of the
pencil beam radiation beam model.
•
Development of advanced image guidance for fiducial placement The feasibility
of implanting fiducial markers in the brachytherapy suite was established using image
guidance from both ultrasound and the conventional (Acuity) simulator. This technique
results in optimal positioning of the fiducial markers for CyberKnife treatment,
something that is difficult to achieve under ultrasound guidance alone.
Brain
o
o
o
o
o
o
Treatments by Site, 1 Jan – 31 Dec 2012
Site (Diagnosis)
# Treatments
# Prescriptions
278
Metastases
226
Primary Brain
182
Acoustic
86
AVM
6
Trigeminal Neuralgia
12
Other Intracranial
92
Spine
Liver
Lung
Kidney
Pancreas
Prostate
Other
Total
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62
70
3
10
3
26
59
837
24
16
1
3
1
5
10
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Medical Physics
The Ottawa Hospital
During the 2012 calendar year on CyberKnife:
o
A total of 338 prescriptions were issued for 200 patients and a total of 839 fractions
delivered, with an average of 3.4 fractions treated per day. This is very similar to
the 2011 numbers: 332 prescriptions, 210 patients and 784 fractions delivered, with
an average of 3.4 fractions treated per day
o
19% of these patients were treated for benign disease, i.e., AVM, acoustic neuroma
and trigeminal neuralgia
o
29% of treatments were delivered with the iris variable collimator, the remainder
with circular collimators
Brachytherapy
Physics support for the brachytherapy program consists of 4 physicists, 5 treatment
planners, and 2 physics technologists, who provide regular support for HDR, LDR and the
permanent prostate implant programs. This support consists of quality assurance, treatment
planning, treatment delivery, regulatory support and process development. In calendar year
2012:
•
23 patients received I-125 permanent prostate implants;
•
4 patients received Ir-192 interstitial low dose rate implants
•
345 treatments were delivered to 120 patients with High Dose Rate brachytherapy;
•
1 patient was treated with a permanent Pd-103 implant for breast.
In April, the manual interstitial low dose rate brachytherapy technique using Ir-192 was
discontinued.
A new planning system, Oncentra Prostate HDR, has been acquired. The first training has
been received. The treatment planning system and the treatment procedure are being
commissioned.
Technical Services
Physics Technical Services (Radiotherapy Service Technologists and Mechanical
Technologists) provide support for both the IGFCC and General Campus divisions of The
Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre. The primary function of the electronics group is to provide
electrical and electronic support to the Radiation Medicine Program in terms of repair and
maintenance of all major equipment. The Machinists provide mechanical expertise to assist
in maintenance and repair of the radiation therapy equipment and the design and
development of machine accessories. In 2012, the list of major equipment requiring support
included 1 CyberKnife, 2 TomoTherapy units, 7 Elekta Synergy accelerators with kilovoltage
x-ray imaging, 2 Siemens Primus accelerators, 1 Orthovoltage unit, 3 Philips CT Simulators
and 1 Varian Acuity simulator located in the HDR brachytherapy suite.
Clinical hours of operation are 09:00 to 18:00, five days per week, with coverage on
weekends for emergency/urgent repairs and maintenance. Unless there is a major failure,
almost all machine maintenance is scheduled outside clinical hours during evenings or
weekends to maximize patient treatment capacity.
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Medical Physics
The Ottawa Hospital
Summary of Repair and Maintenance from 1 January to 31 December 2012
Name
Model
Potential # Repairs Repair Hrs # Repairs Repair Hrs Service PM Time Downtime
Time Hrs
Minor
Minor
Extensive Extensive Time Hrs
Hrs
Hrs
Unit 1 TomoTherapy
1988
34
13.2
41
138.2
151.4
34.1
49
Unit 2 TomoTherapy
2490
43
17.3
50
247.7
264.9
49.1
189
Unit 3 Gulmay D3300
1488
13
9.7
9
5.7
15.3
12.0
2
Unit 4 Siemens Primus K
2728
78
54.8
28
32.8
87.6
30.1
22
Unit 5 Elekta Synergy
2775
79
33.7
65
210.0
243.7
32.9
118
Unit 6 Elekta Synergy
2775
85
46.8
50
77.1
123.8
27.8
32
Unit 7 Siemens Primus K
2739
55
27.5
16
26.0
53.5
26.1
14
Unit 8 Elekta Synergy S
2728
73
28.1
32
57.3
85.4
31.5
28
Unit 9 Elekta Synergy S
2717
63
35.7
31
41.3
76.9
40.1
13
Unit 11 Accuray CyberKnife
1976
42
34.6
25
181.3
215.9
26.5
110
Unit 21 Elekta Synergy
2279.5
39
13.8
3
4.1
17.8
16.0
3
Unit 22 Elekta Synergy
2278.5
46
19.4
6
17.9
37.3
17.6
14
Unit 23 Elekta Synergy
2278.5
72
40.0
16
49.2
89.1
14.9
18
Totals:
31240.5
722
374
372
1088
1463
359
613
100
% Up-Time
98
99.5
99.2
98.9
99.0
99.9
99.5
99.4
99.2
22
23
97.5
95.8
96
94.4
94
92.4
92
90
1
2
4
5
6
7
8
9
11
21
Treatment Unit Number
Treatment Unit Availability for 2012
The overall average up-time for our treatment units was 98.0% in 2012, up from 97.0% in
2011. This increase is predominantly due to the increased stability of the newer of our
tomotherapy units (Unit 1) where the up-time rose to 97.5% from 88.1% in 2011 as a
result of extensive work done on this unit during 2011. The other tomotherapy unit
recorded a consistent 92.4% for both years and did not benefit significantly from the
equivalent work done. Consideration will be given in 2013 to replacing this unit if funding is
available.
In October, Unit 5, one of our original Elekta units installed in 2006, suffered an obscure
breakdown of the modulator which took considerable time to troubleshoot, resulting in a
downtime of approximately one week.
The down-time on the CyberKnife (Unit 11) was caused by a failure of the magnetron,
resulting in a major repair occurring over the Christmas holiday period. The process of
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The Ottawa Hospital
ordering this part encountered several difficulties: the TOH purchasing process proved very
cumbersome for this amount ($165,000) and Accuray were not able to immediately supply
the part. As a result, the unit was out of clinical service for 2 weeks.
During 2012, our Electronics staff attended and successfully completed the following
training course: Elekta EOE2, Atlanta, GA – Dylan Loose, 16 Jan – 3 Feb
Also during 2012, the electronics laboratory at the General campus was renovated to add 3
purpose built work areas and a separate office for the Senior Electronics Technologist.
In addition to routine maintenance and repair of treatment equipment and alignment lasers,
machine shop projects include the design and manufacture of:
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Modifications to Delta4: PMMA insert with chamber holes, a 3 point levelling pad
A high resolution phantom for the standard Catphan 503 phantom
A solid water phantom for commissioning of non-coplanar SABR treatments
Monthly output and profile consistency QA phantom for the orthovoltage unit
A TG61 absolute dosimetry calibration jig for the orthovoltage unit
A respiratory motion phantom
A CyberKnife laser alignment jig and film scanner template
Brachytherapy rectal templates
Carbon fibre headrests
A TBI table and lung shield tray
An abdominal compression device
A high precision prostate slicer
A VMAT gantry speed chamber
A rotational stability jig for tomotherapy
Mould templates for Elekta electron shields
A radiation shield for infusion pumps
A 45º holder for QC kV phantom
o
Table height indicators
12%
5% 1%
1%
Physics
Rad Therapy
Electronics
50%
15%
Cyberknife
Machine Shop
TOH
Brachytherapy
18%
Source of Machine Shop Requests and Approximate Time Spent
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Medical Physics
The Ottawa Hospital
CLINICAL ACTIVITIES – IMAGING
MR Imaging
In December 2011, The Ottawa Hospital accepted delivery of a new 3 Tesla MR scanner; the
first patient was scanned in mid January 2012. Dr. Ian Cameron performed acceptance
testing for the new scanner prior to the first patient being scanned.
Dr. Cameron is working with Biomedical Engineering to develop an extensive Quality
Assurance program for the new MR scanner. He continues to monitor system performance
for all four MR scanners.
Dr. Cameron also interacts regularly with the Biomedical
Engineering personnel that repair and maintain the MR systems.
There is growing concern about the safety of MRI scanning for patients who have implanted
medical devices, e.g., stents. Many of these devices are rated as MRI Conditional by the
manufacturer which means that they are considered safe for some, but not all, MRI
scanners and procedures. The determination of whether it is safe to scan a given patient is
made by the MRI technologists but often they require the expertise of the MR Physicist in
making their decision. Dr. Cameron is regularly consulted to assist in the process. He has
also written a 10 page guide to help the technologists.
Cardiac and Nuclear Medicine Imaging
Nuclear Medicine at the Ottawa Hospital
Dr. Wells has continued to provide emergency physics support to the Nuclear Medicine
departments at the Civic, Riverside and General campuses. This support includes assistance
with the resolution of image artifacts and processing problems. He has also assisted in work
to enable a transition to SPECT lung scanning from planar lung scanning. He has assisted
with the development of a Quality Assurance study to assess the quality and consistency of
the clinical evaluation of bone scans in the department. Finally, he has assisted with the
nuclear medicine residency program by teaching the physics course to the residents (2 hrs /
wk from Aug 2011 – May 2012) and supervising resident research projects.
Cardiac Imaging at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute
Dr. deKemp is Head Imaging Physicist in the Department of Cardiac Imaging. He provides
imaging physics support primarily to the cardiac PET program. This includes the supervision
of scanner selection, installation, commissioning and quality assurance for 3 state-of-the-art
PET-CT scanners installed since 2007. Significant contributions to clinical care at the Heart
Institute include the development and introduction of routine quantification of myocardial
blood flow for the improved detection and management of ischemic heart disease using the
PET tracers Rubidium-82 and Nitrogen-13-ammonia. He leads the Canadian ‘Rb-ARMI’
multi-centre imaging trial for the use of Rb-82 PET as an alternative to Tc-99m for
myocardial perfusion imaging.
Dr. Wells provides physics support to nuclear cardiology (SPECT imaging) at the Heart
Institute. This includes protocol optimization, evaluation of novel software and hardware,
acceptance testing of new equipment, oversight of the Quality Assurance program, and
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The Ottawa Hospital
resolution of image artifacts and processing problems. Dr. Wells also participates regularly
in the monthly city-wide Nuclear Medicine rounds and presented rounds on Apr 26, 2012.
A significant achievement of 2012 was the implementation of dose reduction protocols for
perfusion imaging with the Infinia and NM530c gamma cameras. Following the evaluation
studies done on the Evolution software package for the Infinia and the comparison studies
of image quality on the new NM530c dedicated cardiac camera, we have altered our
standard clinical protocol. For all studies being done on these cameras after Feb 2012,
patient doses have been reduced to 50%, reducing the average patient effective dose from
11mSv to 5mSv for this test. Results of this change were presented at UOHI Grand Rounds
in Oct 2012.
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Medical Physics
The Ottawa Hospital
ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES
CARLETON UNIVERSITY GRADUATE STUDENT SUPERVISION
PHD PROGRAM
Name
Entry
Est. Fin
Supervisor
Topic
Jason Bélec
Sep 2007
Aug 2012
BG Clark
Monte Carlo simulation of motion
in radiation treatment
Jared Strydhorst
Sep 2008
Aug 2013
RG Wells
Micro-SPECT/CT
Chad Hunter
Sep 2010
Aug 2014
R deKemp
Patient Motion Correction for
cardiac PET perfusion imaging
Michel Lalonde
Sep 2010
Aug 2013
RG Wells
Wall-motion Analysis of SPECT
Radionuclide Angiography
Amir
Pourmoghaddas
Jan 2010
Aug 2014
RG Wells
Quantitative Flow measurement
with a dedicated cardiac SPECT
camera
Elizabeth Orton
Sep 2011
Aug 2014
RG Wells
Extra-cardiac Interference in
82Rb PET imaging
Sarah Cuddy
Sep 2012
Aug 2017
RG Wells
Characterization of a novel CZTbased cardiac SPECT camera
MSC PROGRAM
Name
Entry
Est. Fin
Supervisor
Matthew Efseaff
Sep 2010
Sep 2012
R deKemp
Rachel Timmins
Sep 2010
Aug 2012
RG Wells
Cross-Talk Corrections for MultiIsotope Small-Animal SPECT/CT
Stéphanie
Chiasson
Sep 2010
May 2013
RG Wells
Cross-talk correction with a
Dedicated Cardiac SPECT camera
Brandon Zanette
Sep 2011
Aug 2013
IG Cameron
Paul Prior
Sep 2012
Aug 2014
RG Wells
Page 17/59
Topic
Test-retest repeatability of
rubidium-82 PET myocardial
blood flow imaging
Use of Signal Phase in Dynamic
Contrast-Enhanced Magnetic
Resonance Imaging of Gliomas
Multi-isotope cross-talk
correction in micro-SPECT/CT
BGC/DV/May 2013
Annual Report 2012
Medical Physics
The Ottawa Hospital
ADDITIONAL SUPERVISION
•
Mentorship by Elizabeth Henderson, Eric Vandervoort and Janos Szanto, of SABR Fellows
radiation oncologists Anoop Haridass and Vimoj Nair
•
Supervision during the summer months by Joanna Cygler and Eric Vandervoort of Junior
Akunzi, visiting medical physics graduate student from France
•
Supervision during the summer months by Nicolas Ploquin and Eric Vandervoort of
Ismail Ait El Kadir, visiting medical physics graduate student from France
•
Supervision during the summer months by Eric Vandervoort of Harold Johns Studentship
recipient Eric Christiansen, McGill University physics undergraduate student
•
Supervision during the summer months by Ryan Studinski of Andrew Fleck, University of
Ottawa physics undergraduate student
•
Supervision during the summer months by R deKemp of Tyler Kaster, University of
Ottawa undergraduate summer student.
•
Supervision during the summer months by RG Wells and R Clackdoyle of Michael Zhao,
Queens University undergraduate summer student.
UNIVERSITY LECTURES DELIVERED
Carleton University
•
PHYS 5208 Radiation Protection, Course instructor David Wilkins
•
PHYS 5209 Medical Physics Practicum
o
HDR brachytherapy module - Joanna E Cygler
o
IMRT module – Dan La Russa, Katie Lekx-Toniolo
o
SPECT module - R. Glenn Wells
o
PET module - Robert deKemp
o
MRI module – Ian Cameron
University of Ottawa
•
Radiology Residents Physics Course
o
o
Radiology Fellows lectures
o
•
•
MRI Physics, Ian G Cameron
MRI Physics, 4 lectures, Ian G Cameron
Radiation Oncology Residents Physics Course
o
Coordination: Joanna E Cygler
o
Lectures: Lesley Buckley, Ian Cameron, Brenda Clark, Joanna E Cygler, Danielle
Fraser, Lee Gerig, Elizabeth Henderson, Dan La Russa, Gosia Niedbala, Balazs
Nyiri, Nicolas Ploquin, Ryan Studinski, Eric Vandervoort, David Wilkins, R Glenn
Wells
Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine
o
MRI Physics to graduate students, 1 lecture, Ian G Cameron
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Medical Physics
The Ottawa Hospital
o
Imaging in Animal Models of Cardiovascular Disease, 1 lecture, R deKemp
•
Psychology Department, MRI Physics to graduate students, 1 lecture, Ian G Cameron
•
Nuclear Medicine Residents Physics course
o
•
•
2hrs / week, Aug 2011 – May 2012, R Glenn Wells
Cardiology Residents / Fellows Core Lectures
o
4hrs, R Glenn Wells: Basics of SPECT, CT, image reconstruction, AC/SC
o
4hrs, R deKemp: PET artifacts, SPECT and PET quality assurance, Tracer kinetics
BPS 4103 – Medical Imaging
o
3 hrs, SPECT imaging, R. Glenn Wells
o
3 hrs, Cardiac Molecular imaging, R. deKemp
VISITS HOSTED
•
Kasia Broda and Angel Licea, CNSC inspectors, CyberKnife tour, hosted by David
Wilkins, 19 January
•
Dave Whitby, CNSC inspector, Cancer Centre tour hosted by David Wilkins, 25 January
•
Professor Julia Wallace and Carleton PHYS 3606 class, Cancer Centre tour, hosted by
David Wilkins and Michael Roumeliotis, 21 March
•
Kyu Hwan Jung, Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety, Cancer Centre tour hosted by David
Wilkins, 22 March
•
Dr. Peter Dunscombe, Professor and Chief of Medical Physics, University of Calgary and
Dr. Bruce Gerbi, Professor, University of Minnesota, site visit for reaccreditation of our
residency program, 7 September
•
Eugene Wong, Associate Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of
Western Ontario, 11 September
•
Cancer Care Ontario Physics Review A Examining Committee, hosted by Brenda Clark,
20 September
•
PCL Company, Cancer Centre tour hosted by Frank Medwenitsch and David Wilkins, 27
September
•
Dr. Louis Archambault, Medical Physicist, CHUQ – Hôtel Dieu de Québec, 1 October
•
Georges Bendavid, Joel Bohadana, Nathalie Ohayan, Jewish General Hospital, Cancer
Centre tour hosted by David Wilkins and Don Petzold, 3 October
•
Professor Paul Johns and Carleton University PHYS 5203 class, Cancer Centre tour
hosted by Claire Foottit and David Wilkins, 26 November
OTHER ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES
•
TOHCC Research, Medical Physics Unit, McGill University, BG Clark, 15 March
•
Participation in the Carleton University
examination, May 2012, David Wilkins
•
OMPI Seminar, Ottawa, 18 October 2012, Radiation Safety Then and Now, DE Wilkins
Medical
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Physics
Ph.D.
comprehensive
BGC/DV/May 2013
Annual Report 2012
Medical Physics
The Ottawa Hospital
•
Participation in the setting and marking of the MRI specialty examinations of the
Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine, Ian Cameron
•
Chair of the Canadian Medical Association accreditation survey team to evaluate the MRI
technologist training program at Red River College in Winnipeg, Ian Cameron
•
Participation in the Carleton University search committee for two faculty positions in
Medical Physics, Ian Cameron
•
Participation in the TOH Medical Imaging Department search committee to fill a vacant
MR Physicist position, Ian Cameron
•
Participation in the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Medicine search committee to fill a
new faculty position in Medical Physics, Ian Cameron
•
Grant fund application review, Cancer Care Manitoba Foundation, BG Clark
•
CAMPEP accreditation review of the Seoul National University Graduate Program in
Medical Physics, Seoul, N Korea, 27-28 February 2012
•
Career lecture presented to grade 11 and 12 students at Canterbury High School,
Ottawa, ON, Lesley Buckley, 9 May 2012
•
Moderator: M08 -- Simulation and Modeling of Medical Imaging Systems at the 2012
IEEE Medical Imaging Conference, Anaheim, USA, Nov 2012, R Glenn Wells
•
2012 Judge: Young Investigator Competition at the 2012 IEEE Medical Imaging
Conference, Anaheim, USA , Nov 2012, R Glenn Wells
•
2012 Organizer / Moderator: SPECT and PET: Evaluating the Artifacts at the 2012
Society of Nuclear Medicine Annual Meeting, Miami Beach, USA, June 2012, R Glenn
Wells
•
Radiation Safety Committee Member, The Ottawa Hospital, R deKemp
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The Ottawa Hospital
REPRESENTATION ON EXTERNAL COMMITTEES
•
AAPM (American Association of Physicists in Medicine) Working Group on the Prevention of
Errors – BG Clark
•
AAPM – International Affairs Committee - JE Cygler, Vice-Chair, European Subcommittee
•
AAPM Partners in Physics Committee – JE Cygler
•
AAPM Summer School Scholarship Committee – JE Cygler
•
AAPM – TG 105 Clinical Implementation of Monte Carlo based treatment planning systems, JE
Cygler
•
AAPM – TG 176 for Dosimetric Effects of Immobilization Devices - LH Gerig
•
AAPM – TG 191 on Clinical Use of Luminescent Dosimeters - JE Cygler
•
AAPM – TG 195 on Monte Carlo Reference Data Sets for Imaging Research – E. Ali
•
CAMPEP (Commission on Accreditation of Medical Physics Educational Programs), Graduate
Education Program Review Committee (GEPRC) - BG Clark
•
Canadian Institute of Health Information, Advisory Group on minimum data requirements for
health human resources – DE Wilkins
•
CCO (Cancer Care Ontario) Physics Provincial Advisory Committee (PPAC) - BG Clark
•
CCO Radiation Incident and Safety Committee (RISC), Chair – BG Clark
•
CCO Head and Neck Community of Practice Working Group – L Buckley, K Lekx-Toniolo
•
CCO GYNE Community of Practice Working Group – D Fraser
•
CCN (Cardiac Care Network of Ontario) PET Imaging Advisory Committee – R deKemp
•
CCPM (The Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine) - DE Wilkins, President; RG Wells.
Secretary/Treasurer
•
CCPM Examination Committee - I Cameron, D Wilkins, RG Wells
•
CCPM Nominating Committee - BG Clark, Chair
•
CMA (Canadian Medical Association) Committee on Program Accreditation – IG Cameron
•
CMA Conjoint Accreditation Services Team – Radiological Technology, MRI - IG Cameron
•
COMP (Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists) Board Member - DE Wilkins
•
CQA (Collaborative Quality Assurance) Advisory Committee – K Lekx-Toniolo, L Buckley
•
Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, Scientific Review Committee II – R deKemp
•
IAEA Committee on In-vivo dosimetry, JE Cygler, Consultant
•
IEC (International Electrical Commission) - Canadian Standards Team – SC62C WSG1
Equipment for radiotherapy, nuclear medicine and radiation dosimetry, LH Gerig
•
IEEE Nuclear and Medical Imaging Sciences Council - RG Wells
•
Journal of Nuclear Cardiology Editorial Board Member – R deKemp
•
OMPI (Ottawa Medical Physics Institute) Executive Committee - BG Clark
•
OMPI (Ottawa Medical Physics Institute) Executive Committee Past-Director – R deKemp
•
National Research Council of Canada Dose Registry and Radiation Exposure Monitoring
Project, Expert Advisory Group, DE Wilkins
•
Polish Journal of Medical Physics and Engineering Editorial Board - JE Cygler
•
Reports of Practical Oncology and Radiotherapy Editorial Board – JE Cygler
•
Society of Nuclear Medicine, CardioVascular Council – R deKemp
•
Workgroup on Implementation of Cooperative Agreements between the AAPM and other
National and International Medical Physics Organizations – JE Cygler
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Annual Report 2012
Medical Physics
The Ottawa Hospital
RESEARCH
1 Peer Reviewed Publications
1.1
Battista JJ, Clark BG, Patterson MS, Beaulieu L, Sharpe MB, Schreiner LJ,
MacPherson MS, Van Dyk J: Medical physics staffing for radiation oncology: a
decade of experience in Ontario, Canada. J App. Cl Med Phys, 13 (1), 93-110,
2012
1.2
Cherpak AJ, Cygler JE, Andrusyk S, Pantarotto J, MacRae R, Perry G: Clinical
use of a novel in vivo 4D monitoring system for simultaneous patient motion and
dose measurements. Radiother. Oncol, 102, 290-296, 2012
1.3
Clark BG, Brown RJ, Ploquin J, Dunscombe PD: Patient safety improvements in
radiation treatment through 5 years of incident learning. Practical Radiation
Oncology, 2012 DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.prro.2012.08.001
1.4
Malone S, Croke J, Roustan-Delatour N, Belanger E, Avruch L, Malone C, Morash
C, Kayser C, Underhill K, Li Y, Malone K, Nyiri BJ, Spaans J: Postoperative
radiotherapy for prostate cancer: a comparison of four consensus guidelines and
dosimetric evaluation of 3D-CRT versus tomotherapy IMRT. Int J Radiat Oncol
Biol Phys. 2012 Nov 1;84(3):725-32. Epub 22 Mar 2012.
1.5
Nguyen TB, Cron GO, Mercier JF, Foottit C, Torres CH, Chakraborty S, Woulfe J,
Caudrelier JM, Sinclair J, Hogan MJ, Thornhill RE, Cameron IG: Diagnostic
Accuracy of Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced MR Imaging Using a Phase-Derived
Vascular Input Function in the Preoperative Grading of Gliomas.
Am J
Neuroradiology, 33(8), 1539-1545, 2012
1.6
Nyiri BJ, Smale JR, Gerig LH: Two self-referencing methods for
measurement of beam spot position. Med Phys.; 39(12):7635-43, Dec 2012
1.7
Omotayo A, Cygler JE, Sawakuchi GO:
The effect of different bleaching
wavelengths on the sensitivity of Al2O3:C optically stimulated luminescence
detectors (OSLDs) exposed to 6 MV photon beams, Med. Phys. 39, 5457-5468,
2012
1.8
Rakhra KS, Lattanzio PJ, Cardenas-Blanco A, Cameron IG, Beaule PE: Can T 1ρ
MRI
Detect
Acetabular
Cartilage
Degeneration
in
Femoroacetabular
Impingement? – A Pilot Study. Bone and Joint Surgery, 04-B(9), 1187-1102,
2012.
1.9
Smith AM, Walker L, Freedman MS, Berrigan L, St. Pierre J, Hogan M, Cameron
IG: Activation Patterns in Multiple Sclerosis on the Computerized Tests and
Information Processing. J of Neuro. Sci., 312(1-2), 131-137, 2012.
1.10
Trudel G, Coletta E, Cameron IG, Belavy D, Lecompte M, Armbrecht G,
Felsenberg D, Uhthoff H: Resistive Exercises, With and Without Whole Body
Vibrations, Prevent Vertebral Marrow Fat Accumulation During 60 Days of Headdown Tilt Bed Rest in Men. J Appl Physiol., 112(11), 1824-31, 2012.
1.11
R.G.Wells, K. Soueidan, K. Vanderwerf, T.D. Ruddy, .Comparing slow- versus
high-speed CT for attenuation correction of cardiac SPECT perfusion studies.. J.
Nucl. Cardiol. 19, 719-726 (2012).
1.12
G. Dwivedi, R.G. Wells, B.J. Chow, .Cardiovascular magnetic resonance for
diagnosis of coronary artery disease: quo vadis?.. Expert Rev. Med. Devices 9,
219-224 (2012).
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The Ottawa Hospital
2 Books / Chapters / Other
2.1
JE Cygler, K Tanderup, S Beddar, J Perez-Calatayud, “In Vivo Dosimetry in
Brachytherapy”, in Comprehensive Brachytherapy: Physical and Clinical Aspects,
ISBN-10:1439844984, Taylor & Francis (CRC PressINC) Boca Raton 2012, p.
379-396.
2.2
GO Sawakuchi, L Archambault, A Scullion, JE Cygler, “Results of a survey to
assess the current status of in-vivo dosimetry in Canada”, InterACTIONS: The
Canadian Medical Physics Newsletter, 58(1), 13-18, 2012
3 Invited Presentations
3.1
C Angers, Experience at the Front Lines: Ottawa and Industry Perspectives,
Quality & Safety in Radiation Therapy Education Course, UHN-PMH Accelerated
Education Program, February 22-24, 2012
3.2
D Wilkins, Radiation Protection & Radiation Biology, lectures to Radiology
Residents, Memorial University, Newfoundland 2 April,
3.3
JE Cygler, In vivo dosimetry in brachytherapy: detectors, techniques and
possible clinical applications, Pre-meeting course, Recent advances in
brachytherapy, ESTRO 31, May 9-13, 2012, Barcelona, Spain
3.4
DE Wilkins, The Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine, Student Council
meeting, Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists Annual Scientific Meeting,
July 12, 2012, Halifax, NS
3.5
BG Clark, Implementation of An Incident Learning System in a Multidisciplinary
Environment: a Leadership Opportunity for Medical Physicists Practice
Management Session, AAPM Annual Scientific Meeting, Charlotte, NC, 31 Jul 2012
3.6
E Henderson, Technical Issues: CyberKnife central nervous system treatments,
Ottawa CyberKnife Symposium, September 15, 2012
3.7
JE Cygler, Clinical electron beams in the era of commercial Monte Carlo based
treatment planning systems, Annual meeting of Swiss Medical Society, 15-16
November 2012, Biel-Bienne, Switzerland
3.8
RG Wells, Reducing Patient Exposure in Nuclear Cardiology. Presented at the
3.9
3.10
3.11
3.12
3.13
University of Ottawa Heart Institute Grand Rounds, Ottawa, ON, on Oct. 22, 2012.
RG Wells, The Physics of Dose Reduction in Nuclear Medicine.. The McGill Health
Sciences Centre Medical Physics seminar series, Montreal, QC, on Sept 14, 2012.
RG Wells, Ultra Low Dose Imaging - New Protocols and Equipment.. The 17th
Annual Scientific Session of the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology at
Baltimore, MD, on Sept. 8, 2012.
RG Wells, MUGA: Planar and SPECT Artifacts and Issues.. The 17th Annual
Scientific Session of the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology at Baltimore, MD,
on Sept. 7, 2012.
RG Wells, The Art of Artifact Identification and Explanation.. The 17th Annual
Scientific Session of the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology at Baltimore, MD,
on Sept. 7, 2012.
RG Wells, Fundamentals of SPECT and Technical Advances.. Molecular Function
and Imaging Symposium: Bringing Cardiovascular Imaging and Therapy to Life at
Ottawa, ON, on June 21, 2012.
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The Ottawa Hospital
3.14
3.15
RG Wells, Hardware: New PET and SPECT Cameras.. Society of Nuclear Medicine
Annual Meeting at Miami Beach, FL, on June 9, 2012.
RG Wells, The Physics Behind CZT.. Joint Canadian Association of Nuclear
Medicine / Eastern Great Lakes – Society of Nuclear Medicine Annual Scientific
Meeting at Ottawa, ON, on May 3, 2012.
4 Oral Presentations at National & International Conferences
4.1
S. Neuteboom, C. Angers, D. Wilkins, Everyone on the Same Page: Evolution
of a QC Program, Canadian Organizaiton of Medical Physicists Winter School,
Whistler, British Columbia, January 29 - February 2
4.2
JE Cygler, In vivo dosimetry in brachytherapy: detectors, techniques and
possible clinical applications, Pre-Meeting Course, Recent advances in
brachytherapy, ESTRO 31, Barcelona, Spain, May 9-13
4.3
N Ploquin, G Kertzscher, E Vandervoort, CE Anderson, JE Cygler, P
Francescon, Small field dosimetry using optical-fiber radioluminescence and
RADPOS dosimetry systems, Radiotherapy and Oncology, 103, Supplement 1,
S208, 2012, ESTRO 31, Barcelona Spain, May 9-13
4.4
JE Cygler, A Cherpak, R MacRae, J Pantarotto, G Perry, Clinical use of RADPOS
4D in vivo dosimetry system, 2012 World Congress of Medical Physics and
Biomedical Engineering, Beijing, China, May 26-31
4.5
JE Cygler, E Vandervoort, Clinical use of commercial Monte Carlo-based-dosecalculations-systems for electron beams, 2012 World Congress of Medical Physics
and Biomedical Engineering, Beijing, China, May 26-31
4.6
N Ploquin, G Kertzscher, E Vandervoort, CE Anderson, JE Cygler, P
Francescon, Small field dosimetry using optical-fiber radioluminescence and
RADPOS dosimetry systems, 2012 World Congress of Medical Physics and
Biomedical Engineering, Beijing, China, May 26-31
4.7
E Vandervoort, DJ La Russa, N Ploquin, I Ait El Kadir, J Szanto, E
Henderson, Improved dosimetric accuracy for patient specific quality assurance
using a dual-detector measurement method for CyberKnife output factors,
Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists Annual Meeting, Halifax, NS, 11-14
July
4.8
N Ploquin, G Kertzscher, E Vandervoort, JE Cygler, CE Anderson, P
Francescon, CyberKnife relative output factor measurements using fiber-coupled
luminescence, MOSFET and RADPOS dosimetry systems, Canadian Organization
of Medical Physicists Annual Meeting, Halifax, NS, July 11-14
4.9
B Nyiri, L Gerig, A generalized solution to the wide field array calibration
method, Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists Annual Meeting, Halifax, NS,
11-14 July
4.10
C Angers, J Renaud, BG Clark, Identifying and Mitigating Risk In After Hours
Radiation Treatment Delivery, Oral presentation at the Canadian Association of
Radiation Oncologists Annual Scientific Meeting, Ottawa, September 12-15
4.11
J Bahm, R Studinski, DJ La Russa, K Carty, D Fraser, L Buckley, C Angers,
BG Clark, Does the application of failure mode and effects analysis identify and
reduce risk for a TomoTherapy treatment process?, Canadian Association of
Radiation Oncologists Annual Scientific Meeting, Ottawa, September 12–15
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4.12
A Haridass, S Chakraborty, R.Chatelain, J Szanto, C Lum, S Malone, J Sinclair,
Technique For Using Dynamic CT Angiography (dCTA) For Frameless Stereotactic
Radiosurgical (SRS) Planning Of Intracranial Arterio Venous Malformations (AVM)
Canadian Association of Radiation Oncologists Annual Scientific Meeting, Ottawa,
September 12–15
4.13
A Haridass, E Vandervoort, J Szanto, J Sinclair, J Gratton, K Malone, S Malone,
Customised MoldCare® head rests reduce patient movement for intracranial
Cyberknife RadioSurgery. 54th Annual Meeting of the American Society for
Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) 28 – 31 October, Boston
4.14
JE Cygler, Clinical electron beams in the era of commercial Monte Carlo based
treatment planning systems, Annual Meeting of Swiss Medical Society, BielBienne, Switzerland, November 15-16
4.15
R Studinski, A Fleck, A Alexander, DJ La Russa, Comparison planning of
breast and anal canal: TomoTherapy vs SharePlan, Accuray users meeting:
Advancing Radiation Oncology: A Collaborative Forum, Dallas TX, 28–30 Nov
4.16
DJ La Russa, J Bahm, R Studinski, K Carty, C Angers, BG Clark, A
comparative risk assessment of TomoTherapy and conventional IMRT with image
guidance using failure mode and effects analysis, Accuray users meeting:
“Advancing Radiation Oncology: A Collaborative Forum”, Dallas, TX, 28–30 Nov
4.17
E Vandervoort, DJ La Russa, N Ploquin, J Szanto, E Henderson, Improved
dosimetric accuracy for patient specific quality assurance using a dual-detector
measurement method for CyberKnife output factors, Oral presentation at the
Accuray users meeting: Advancing Radiation Oncology: A Collaborative Forum,
Dallas, TX, November 28–30
4.18
R.G. Wells, J. Lockwood, L. Wei, D. Duan, P. Fernando, C. Bensimon, T.D. Ruddy.
.Serial Estimation of Cross-talk for Correction in Dual-isotope Imaging with Dynamic
Tracers.. Oral presentation at the Candian Organization of Medical Physics Annual
Meeting in Halifax, NS, July, 2012. Med. Phys. 39, 4642 (2012) [Abstract].
R.S. Thing, E Mainegra-Hing, G.Wells, I Kawrakow, C. Brink. .CBCT image quality
improved by scatter subtraction calculated by Monte Carlo Simulations.. European
Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology Meeting (2012). Oral Presentation.
PG Burgon, SL Thorn, G Wells, RA deKemp, JN DaSilva, RS Beanlands. .Muscle
enriched A-type Lamin Interacting Protein (MLIP) regulates Cardiac Metabolism,
Growth and Function.. Oral presentation at the American Heart Association annual
meeting, 2012. Circulation 126 Suppl., A13249 (2012) [Abstract].
4.19
4.20
5 Poster Presentations at National & International Conferences
5.1
A Cardenas-Blanco, A Speirs, K Rakhra, H Frei, IG Cameron, ME Schweitzer, PE
Beaule, How Do Subchondral Bone Changes Affect Cartilage in FAI?, American
Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, Scientific Exhibit, San Francisco, California,
February
5.2
A Cardenas-Blanco, ME Schweitzer, K Rakhra, IG Cameron, PE Beaule,
Femoroacetabular Impingement:
Is Cartilage Degeneration a Continuum?
Orthopedic Research Society, San Francisco, California, February
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5.3
A Cardenas-Blanco, K Rakhra, A Speirs, IG Cameron, ME Schweitzer, PE Beaule,
Noncontrast Cartilage Assessment (T 1ρ ) of the Hip in Femoroacetabular
Impingement: Can We Predict Early Changes?, International Society of Magnetic
Resonance in Medicine, Melbourne, Australia, p. 3307, May
5.4
GO Cron, M El-Maadawy, J Werier, RE Thornhill, R Chatelain, E Henderson,
Foottit, IG Cameron, AM Sheikh, G DiPrimio, M Sampaio, ME Schweitzer,
Comparison of Quantitative Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced CT and MRI
Musculoskeletal Tumors, International Society of Magnetic Resonance
Medicine, Melbourne, Australia, May
5.5
GO Cron, TB Nguyen, RE Thornhill, JF Mercier, C Foottit, CH Torres, S
Chakraborty, J Woulfe, JM Caudrelier, J Sinclair, MJ Hogan, IG Cameron, ME
Schweitzer, Phase-derived Vascular Input Functions for 2D DCE#-MRI of Cerebral
Gliomas: Reproducibility and Diagnositc Value, International Society of Magnetic
Resonance in Medicine, Melbourne, Australia, May
5.6
JE Cygler, E Vandervoort, Clinical Implementation and QA of Monte Carlobased dose calculation algorithms for electron beams, ESTRO 31, Barcelona,
Spain, May 9-13
5.7
S Samiee, M Lacelle, B Nyiri, N Ploquin, JM Caudrelier: Implementation and
early evaluation of Linac IMRT for the post operative logo-regional radiation of
breast cancer. Radiother Oncol vol. ESTRO 2012 Barcelona, Spain, May 9-13
5.8
S Malone, J Croke, E Belanger, K Malone, L Avruch, C Malone, C Morash, Y Li, B
Nyiri: Use of pre-op MRI and «3D prostate cancer maps» to improve CTV
definition for post-operative radiation. Estro 2012 Barcelona, Spain, May 9-13
5.9
J Szanto, E Henderson, E Vandervoort, Optimized Output Factor
Measurement Method for CyberKnife Collimators, ESTRO 31, Barcelona, Spain,
May 9-13
5.10
A Cardenas-Blanco, KS Rakhra, ME Schweitzer, IG Cameron, PE Beaule, NonContrast Quantitative MR Imaging (T1-Rho) of the Hip in Asymptomatic and
Symptomatic CAM FAI, Canadian Orthopaedic Association 67th Annual Meeting,
Ottawa, June
5.11
AJ Cherpak, G Kertzscher, JE Cygler, Applications of RADPOS In Vivo Dosimetry
for QA of High Dose Rate Brachytherapy, Med. Phys. 39, 3968 (2012), Canadian
Organization of Medical Physicists Annual Meeting, Halifax, NS, July 11-14
5.12
AJ Cherpak, JE Cygler, G Kertzscher, CE, G Perry, LDR to HDR : RADPOS
applications in brachytherapy, Med. Phys. 39, 4624 (2012), Canadian
Organization of Medical Physicists Annual Meeting, Halifax, NS, July 11-14
5.13
A Omotayo, JE Cygler, G Sawakuchi, The Effect of Bleaching Wavelengths on the
Regeneration of the Optically Stimulated Luminescence Signal of NanoDot
Dosimeters Pre-Exposed to High-Doses, Canadian Organization of Medical
Physicists Annual Meeting, Halifax, NS, July 11-14
5.14
A Omotayo, JE Cygler, G Sawakuchi, Investigation of Different Bleaching
Wavelengths on Absorbed-Dose Sensitivity of NanoDot OSLDs Exposed to 6 MV
X-ray Beams, Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists Annual Meeting,
Halifax, NS, July 11-14
5.15
C Angers, R Studinski, DJ La Russa, J Bahm, J Renaud, BG Clark, Risk
Assessment of Clinical Radiation Processes using Failure Modes and Effect
Analysis, Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists Annual Meeting, Halifax,
NS, July 11-14
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5.16
R Studinski, A Alexander, DJ La Russa, Conversion of helical TomoTherapy
plans into clinically favourable step-and-shoot IMRT plans deliverable on a c-arm
linac, Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists Annual Meeting, Halifax, NS,
July 11-14
5.17
V Janardanan Nair, J Szanto, E Vandervoort, E Henderson, L Avruch, S
Malone, J Pantarotto, Feasibility, Detectability and Experience with Platinum Seed
Internal Fiducial Markers for CT-MRI Fusion and Real-time Tumor Tracking During
Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy, Annual Scientific Meeting of the Canadian
Association of Radiation Oncology (CARO), September
5.18
AJ Cherpak, JE Cygler, C E, G Perry, Impact of transrectal ultrasound probe on
prostate position and dose distribution during permanent seed implantation, 26th
Annual Scientific Meeting of the Canadian Association of Radiation Oncology
(CARO), Ottawa, 12-15 September
5.19
VJ Nair, N Ploquin, R MacRae, BG Clark, J Pantarotto, A practical and objective
scoring method for dosimetric comparison of individual stereotactic ablative
radiotherapy treatment plans, 26th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Canadian
Association of Radiation Oncology (CARO), Ottawa, 12-15 September
5.20
J Belec, BG Clark, 4D Monte Carlo Calculations of VMAT and Helical
TomoTherapy Dose Distributions of Lung Stereotactic Treatments with IntraFraction Motion 26th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Canadian Association of
Radiation Oncology (CARO), Ottawa, 12-15 September
5.21
V Janardanan Nair, J Szanto, E Vandervoort, E Henderson, L Avruch, S
Malone, J Pantarotto, Feasibility, Detectability and Experience with Platinum Seed
Internal Fiducial Markers for CT-MRI Fusion and Real-time Tumor Tracking During
Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy, Annual Meeting of the American Society for
Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), October
5.22
GO Cron, KS Rakhra, PE Beaule, I Catelas, A Cardenas-Blanco, ME Schweitzer,
IG Cameron, MRI perfusion measurements in patients who have undergone total
hip replacement, RSNA, Chicago, Illinois, November
5.23
GO Cron, WM Shabana, RE Thornhill, IG Cameron, ME Schweitzer, Towards
more uniform follow-up of rectal cancer treatment: Improved reproducibility of
MRI perfusional measurements using Bookend T1 measurements, RSNA, Chicago,
Illinois, November
5.24
JM Croke, B Nyiri, L Avruch, E Belanger, S Malone: Impact of Radical
Prostatectomy on Rectal Position and Implications for CTV Definition for
Postoperative Prostate Radiation Therapy, ASTRO Boston, MA
5.25
RG Wells, K Soueidan and TD Ruddy. .Position dependent attenuation artifacts
with multi-pinhole dedicated cardiac camera.. 2012 IEEE Nuclear Science
Symposium Conference Record, 2515-2518, 2012
5.26
P. Burgon, J. Lockwood, G. Wells, and A. Blais. .Haploinsuf_ciency of Muscle
enriched A-type Lamin Interacting Protein (MLIP) manifests as enlarged dilated
hearts.. Poster presentation at the American Heart Association Basic
Cardiovascular Sciences Meeting, 2012. Circ. Res. 111, A250 (2012) [Abstract].
5.27
M Cocker, G Dwivedi, B Marvin, M Poirier, C Dennie, G Wells, K Chan, R Roberts,
A Dick, TD Ruddy. .Integrin Imaging of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Identi_es
Diffuse Cardiac Fibrosis: Direct Comparison with Cardiovascular Magnetic
Resonance Imaging The SCAR Study.. Oral presentation at the 2012 Canadian
Cardiovascular Congress. Can. J. Cardiol. 28 Supp., S139 (2012) [Abstract].
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5.28
J.S. Gill, M. Cocker, G. Dwivedi, D. Dowlatshahi, M. Bussiere, F. Momoli,
G.Wells, J. DaSilva, R. Glikstein, R. DeKemp, R. Beanlands, G. Stotts, M. Hogan,
M. Sharma, T. Ruddy. .Assessment of Aortic Plaque In_ammation and its
Relationship with Aortic Dilatation by FDG PET/CT Hybrid Imaging.. Poster
presentation at the 2012 Canadian Cardiovascular Congress. Can. J. Cardiol. 28
Supp., S376-S377 (2012) [Abstract].
5.29
S. Chiasson, TD Ruddy and RG Wells. .Tc-99m/Tl-201 crosstalk correction on a
dedicated cardiac CZT SPECT camera.. 2012 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium
and Medical Imaging Conference Abstract Book, 397 (2012). [Abstract] Poster
presentation.
5.30
M. Lalonde, D. Birnie, T.D. Ruddy, R. Wassenaar, R.G. Wells. .Comparison of
SPECT RNA phase analysis amplitude values and left ventricular lateral wall scar
size.. J. Nucl. Med. 53 Supp 1, 422P (2012) [Abstract].
5.31
R.G. Wells, K. Soueidan, P. Fernando, J. Lockwood, B. Marvin, L. Wei, D. Duan,
C. Bensimon, T.D. Ruddy. Radiodosimetry of 123I-CMICE-013, a Novel SPECT
Myocardial Perfusion Imaging Tracer, using a pig model.. J. Nucl. Med. 53 Supp
1, 328P (2012) [Abstract].
5.32
L. Wei, C. Bensimon, X. Yan, P. Fernando, J. Lockwood, D. Duan, G. Wells, T.
Ruddy. .Synthesis and Evaluation of 123I-CMICE-013: a Novel SPECT Myocardial
Perfusion Agent.. J. Nucl. Med. 53 Supp 1, 354P (2012) [Abstract].
5.33
R. Timmins, R.G. Wells. .Cross-talk correction in dual isotope 111In/99mTc
small-animal cardiac SPECT imaging.. Proceedings of the 10th ImNO Symposium,
p. 165 (2012) [abstract]. Poster presentation. J. Nucl. Med. 53 Supp 1, 574P575P (2012) [Abstract].
6 Internal Presentations
•
Elekta machine design for VMAT, Physics Research Rounds, January 12, J Smale
•
Image Noise and Iterative Reconstruction – Part II of II, Physics Research Rounds,
January 20, B Nyiri
•
Introduction to Neoplasia, Physics Research Rounds, January 27, Dr Mary Senterman
•
COMP Winter School 2012 Summary, Physics Research Rounds, February 10, DE
Wilkins & S Neuteboom
•
VMAT machine QA newest developments/updates, Physics Research Rounds,
February 24, G Niedbala
•
Experience at the Front Lines: Ottawa and Industry Perspectives, Physics Research
Rounds, March 9, C Angers
•
Photon Dose Calculations, Physics Research Rounds, March 30, A Alexander, A
Cherpak, C Foottit
•
Calibration of MatriXX: Error Propagation, Measurement Strategy, and Generalized
Wide Field Calibration Algorithm, Physics Research Rounds, May 11, B Nyiri
•
Comprehensive and Automated Quality Control for Radiotherapy: The AQUA System,
Physics Research Rounds, May 18, Daniel Letourneau (invited speaker)
•
3D cancer maps for improved targeting, Physics Research Rounds, June 1, B Nyiri
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•
E Vandervoort, Improved dosimetric accuracy for patient treatments on the
CyberKnife robotic radiosurgery system using dual-detector measurement method
for the measurement of relative output factors, University of Ottawa, Radiology
Research Day, June 7, 2012
•
Lung SBRT Intra Fraction Dose Calculation, Radiation Medicine Program Rounds,
June 15, J Belec
•
Imaging Program Update, Physics Research Rounds, June 22, L Buckley
•
COMP conference presentation, Physics Research Rounds, June 22, A Alexander
•
Implementation and validation of the DoseLabPro software for patient specific quality
assurance and its application to Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT) and
CyberKnife treatments, Physics Research Rounds, August 10, I Ait El Kadir
•
Validation of XiO Elekta Monte Carlo planning system for electron beams, Physics
Research Rounds, August 10, J Akunzi
•
Investigation of Spinal Re-treatments Using Different Planning CT’s on CyberKnife,
Physics Research Rounds, August 17, E Christiansen
•
SharePlan© versus conventional Linear Accelerator planning for challenging breast
and chest wall patients, Physics Research Rounds, August 17, A Fleck
•
SBRT Journal Club, Physics Research Rounds, August 24, C Foottit
•
Radiation Incidents, Physics Research Rounds, August 31, C Foottit
•
E Henderson, CyberKnife Treatment Planning, Ottawa Treatment Planning Training
Course (2 sessions), September and November 2012
•
CARO presentations, Physics Research Rounds, September 7, C Angers, J Bahm
•
ESTRO conference summary, Physics Research Rounds, September 14, J Szanto
•
CARO conference summary, Physics Research Rounds, September 21, C Angers, A
Cherpak, J Hendry
•
Radiation Safety, Patient Safety and Quality Assurance, Radiation Oncology/Physics
Rounds, September 26, DE Wilkins
•
An update on the development and implementation of QATrack+, Physics Research
Rounds, September 28, D La Russa
•
Medical Physics Professional Practice Models - Part I, Physics Research Rounds,
October 12, BG Clark
•
Orthovoltage QA, Physics Research Rounds, October 19, A Alexander
•
Radiotherapy for Prostate Cancer: are the modern ways “to skin the cat”
complementary or competitive? Radiation Medicine Program Rounds, 24 October, JE
Cygler
•
VelocityAI dose summation bug – Did the patch work?, Physics Research Rounds,
October 26, E Vandervoort
•
Medical Physics Professional Practice Models - Part II, Physics Research Rounds,
November 2, BG Clark
•
Is image-guided radiotherapy overvalued as a clinical tool?, Physics Research
Rounds, November 23, A Cherpak
•
Radiation Safety Update, Physics Research Rounds, November 30, DE Wilkins
•
Lung SABR VMAT, Physics Research Rounds, December 7, J Belec
•
Summary of Accuray Users Meeting, Physics Research Rounds, December 14, E
Henderson, D La Russa
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7 Research Funding
•
CIHR $116,356/yr (2009-2014)
P Beaule, IG Cameron, H Frie, M Lamontagne, K Rakhra, M Schweitzer
Femoroacetabular Impingement: Correlating Hip Morphology to Changes in Cartilage
and Subchontral Bone
•
TomoTherapy Inc. $390,000 (2008-2013)
BG Clark, Clinical TomoTherapy Process Improvement
•
Elekta Technology Research Grant $50,000 (2010-2012)
JE Cygler and E Vandervoort
Evaluation of a new commercial Monte Carlo dose calculation algorithm for electron
beam treatment planning in CMS
•
Elekta Technology Research Grant $265,000 (2010-2012)
BG Clark and JE Cygler
Implementation of advanced 4D treatment planning and dose delivery techniques.
•
ORF (Ontario Research Fund) $465,000 (2010-2015)
BG Clark, Adaptive Techniques for Rapid Radiation Therapy as part of the Ontario
Consortium for Adaptive Interventions in Radiation Oncology (OCAIRO), PI D Jaffray
•
Canadian Institutes of Health Research $1,105,000 (2009-12)
RA deKemp, RSB Beanlands, GA Wells. Rubidium-82 Alternative Radiopharmaceutical
for Myocardial Imaging (Rb-ARMI) Canadian Multi-centre Trial
•
Natural Science and Engineering Research Council $140,000 (2011-2016)
RG Wells, Improving Accuracy in Small-Animal Cardiac SPECT/CT Imaging
•
Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario $140,787 (2010-2012)
RG Wells, RA deKemp. Respiratory Motion Compensation in Coronary Flow Reserve
Measurements with CZT Dedicated Cardiac Single-Photon Emission Computed
Tomography
•
Natural Science and Engineering Research Council $1,040,388 (2012-2015)
RG Wells (Co-Investigator) Development of a Therapeutic Oncolytic Poxvirus with
Enhanced Stability and Potency (PI: J. Bell)
•
Ministry of Research and Innovation. Ontario Research Fund $574,333 (for UOHI)
(2009-2015)
RG Wells (co-investigator) Ontario Preclinical Imaging Consortium (PI S Foster)
•
Ministry of Research and Innovation. Ontario Research Fund $1,604,000 (for UOHI)
(2008-2014)
•
RG Wells (co-investigator) Imaging for Cardiovascular Therapeutics (PI G Wright)
RA deKemp (uOHI site-leader and co-investigator)
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8 Research & Development Projects
RADIATION TREATMENT VALIDATION
•
Characterization of OSL nanoDot detectors in 6 MV photon beam
A Omotayo, G Sawakuchi, JE Cygler
Al 2 O 3 :C nanoDots, optically stimulated luminescence detectors, and microStar system
have been recently acquired by our department. This in vivo dosimetry system can
complement our TLD and MOSFET systems for special clinical applications.
OSL
detectors are more efficient to use than TLDs and can provide faster information about
the dose delivered to the patients. Manufacturer sells nanoDots as single-use-detectors.
However, they could be re-used after careful bleaching is applied, resulting in savings to
the hospital. The purpose of this project is to determine the effect of different bleaching
wavelengths on the luminescence response of Al 2 O 3 :C optically stimulated luminescence
detectors (OSLDs) exposed to accumulated doses of 6 MV photon beams. A paper was
presented at AAPM/COMP Joint Meeting. A manuscript has been published (Med. Phys.
39, 5457-5468 (2012)).
•
Motion study for lung patients using RADPOS system
JE Cygler, A Cherpak, S Andrusyk, G Perry, R MacRae, C Lochrin, J Pantarotto
This is an on-going clinical trial that aims to evaluate the potential of the RADPOS
system for applications in external beam treatments for lung cancer patients.
Measurements are performed at the time of each patient’s 4DCT and throughout the
course of treatment. Three RADPOS sensors were positioned and marked points on the
patient’s chest and abdomen while a fourth detector was placed on the CT or treatment
couch for reference. Data analyzed in terms of inter- and intra-fraction reproducibility of
patients breathing patterns and received dose.
The paper has been published
(Radiother. Oncol. 102, 290-296, 2012)
•
RADPOS for post-implant QA of permanent prostate implants
A Cherpak, JE Cygler, C E, G Perry
This project is part of ongoing development of the RADPOS 4D in vivo dosimetry system.
The study explored the use of a modified version of the position and dose monitoring
detector during permanent seed implant procedures for prostate brachytherapy. The
detector was positioned in the urethra and displacement of the prostate was recorded
throughout the implantation procedure. A dose profile along the urethra was also
measured after all seeds were placed both before and after the removal of a transrectal
ultrasound probe to compare deviations in the dose. Real-time dosimetry of such
procedures can provide valuable information and potentially allow for additional
placement of seeds or medical care if lower or higher doses than expected are detected.
The study was presented at a conference and the manuscript is in preparation.
•
Use of real-time RL Al 2 O 3 :C and RADPOS for Brachytherapy QA
G Kertzscher, A Cherpak, JE Cygler, C Anderson
This project is in collaboration with Risø National laboratory in Denmark. Gustavo
Kertzscher, a visiting PhD student from Denmark, worked with us during the summer
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months. Gustavo brought with him a novel radioluminescence based dosimetry system.
Summer was spent on exploring possible clinical applications of the Risø system and
comparing it with RADPOS. The purpose of this project is to evaluate a dose-verification
protocol for HDR Brachytherapy based on in vivo time-resolved 1 s time resolution of
Risø and RADPOS systems. The preliminary measurements have been completed. An
abstract has been presented at a conference.
•
Use of real-time RL Al 2 O 3 :C and RADPOS for VMAT QA
G Kertzscher, M Rodrigues, A Cherpak, N Ploquin, JE Cygler, C Anderson
This project is also in collaboration with Risø National laboratory in Denmark. It
explores the possibility of using Risø and RADPOS systems for patient specific QAA of
breast treatment delivery using VMAT. Preliminary measurements show a good promise
for usefulness of both systems. The data analysis is in progress.
•
Use of real-time RL Al 2 O 3 :C, RADPOS, MOSFET, and Gafchromic film systems for
measurement of relative output factors for Cyberknife cones and patient
specific QA
N Ploquin, G Kertzscher, E Vandervoort, JE Cygler, C Anderson
This project is another collaboration with Risø National laboratory in Denmark using the
Radioluminescent (RL) Al 2 O 3 :C dosimetry system. In this project we compare RL,
RADPOS, MOSFET, and Gafchromic film systems for measurement of relative output
factors for Cyberknife cones. The accurate determination of output factors for small
fields is challenging and can lead to large dose errors in patient treatments if corrections
for detector effects (e.g. detector size, scatter from high-Z material) are not applied to
these measurements. This is a novel application for Risø and RADPOS systems. The
results from different detectors agree very well, provided that appropriate correction
factors are applied. An abstract has been submitted to an international conference
(European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology). We also carried out preliminary
measurements of patient specific QA using static and moving (Quasar) phantoms.
RADPOS shows a particular promise here, since this system can simultaneously measure
both the spatial position and dose. The study was presented at a conference and the
manuscript is in preparation.
RADIATION DOSE CALCULATION
•
Investigation of software to generate conventional accelerator IMRT fluence
from TomoTherapy fluence - SharePlan
R Studinski, A Alexander, D La Russa
SharePlan is novel planning software solution that takes dose distributions generated on
a TomoTherapy planning station for a helical TomoTherapy treatment and creates a
step-and-shoot IMRT plan for a C-arm linac. The linac plan is optimized on the dose
distribution from the TomoTherapy, which is imported directly from the TomoTherapy
planning system, and generated within the space of a few minutes. This product has
significant clinical potential since we can quickly create back-up TomoTherapy plans for
linacs. A beam model was constructed on SharePlan for our Elekta Beam Modulator units
using existing commissioning data. Treatment plans for several anal canal patients and
several breast patients were generated on both TomoTherapy and SharePlan systems
with the aim of comparing several metrics, including target coverage, organ-at-risk
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The Ottawa Hospital
(OAR) sparing, and treatment time. The impact of target/OAR weighting and number of
beams on SharePlan plan quality was also investigated. The results were presented at
the Accuray users meeting in Dallas, Texas (Nov 28-30, 2012) and at the annual
meeting of the Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists in Halifx, NS (Jul 11-14,
2012).
IMPROVEMENT OF TREATMENT UNIT QUALITY ASSURANCE
•
TomoTherapy Quality Assurance and Optimization of MVCT HU
R Studinski, D La Russa, J Belec
The MVCT of the TomoTherapy system has substantial potential as a planning tool in the
clinic due to its ability to image high-Z material(s) without artifacts common with
conventional CT simulators. This system may also be integrated into adaptive planning
techniques on TomoTherapy since it is used daily to capture changes in patient anatomy
and physiology. However, the HU of a TomoTherapy unit have been shown to be
unstable and requires extensive QA to monitor changes. Some changes in HUs have
been shown to be related to energy, and our own analysis of the imaging beam has
shown that the jaw setting for the imaging beam may play a role as well. Whatever the
cause, we are developing novel techniques to overcome the instability of HUs measured
with the TomoTherapy imaging beam using scripts that automatically compare
TomoTherapy MVCT scans with kVCT scans from our simulators. These scripts use the
kVCT scans to correct the intensity-value-to-density table (IVDT) needed by
TomoTherapy systems to calculate HU values, thereby enabling the use of MVCT scans
for treatment planning.
MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING
•
Characterization of Proteoglycan Depletion in Femoroacetabular Impingement
with T 1ρ MRI.
PJ Lattanzio, P Beaule, A Cardenas-Blanco, G Cron, IG Cameron, K Rakhra, M Schweitzer
The goal of this study is to demonstrate the feasibility of T 1ρ MRI in the evaluation of hip
cartilage. The T 1ρ relaxation values of hyaline cartilage in asymptomatic control patients
will be compared to those in patients with clinically proven FAI. The correlation between
T 1ρ values and proteoglycan content of hip cartilage, as determined by histopathology,
will be determined.
•
The Effects of Water Diffusion on MR Image Contrast
A Cardenas-Blanco, IG Cameron
One source of contrast for MR Images is the microscopic motion of water molecules:
diffusion in tissues and perfusion in blood vessels. The goal of this research project is to
gain a better understanding of these motions at a very basic level so that the contrast
obtained in diffusion weighted MR imaging can be better understood.
•
Placental Perfusion Measurements to Assess Fetal Growth Restriction
L Avruch, A Gruslin, IG Cameron
Abnormally small third trimester fetuses are often a consequence of malnutrition
secondary to placental dysfunction. When this is the case early delivery may be
required. We are working on developing MRI techniques for measuring blood flow in the
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The Ottawa Hospital
placenta without the use of contrast agents. Such techniques would all us to distinguish
intrauterine growth restricted fetuses from those that are small but healthy.
•
Rician Bias Reduction
A Cardenas-Blanco, IG Cameron
Obtaining quantitatively accurate values for the MR signal strength from the images is
hampered, for low intensity signals, by a bias introduced by rectification of the noise on
the signal when the magnitude is computed during the image reconstruction process.
This is known as Rician Bias. An algorithm for reducing this bias to acceptable levels has
been developed and is being validated on phantoms. We are also extending this theory
to phased array rf coils.
•
Quantitative Cerebral Perfusion MRI
C Foottit, G Cron, IG Cameron, T Nguyen, M Hogan
Various MRI methods exist for the qualitative monitoring of cerebra perfusion. These
methods are very useful for many clinical indications; however, for other conditions
quantitative measurements of perfusion are desirable. We are investigating several
ways of doing quantitative perfusion MRI including serial measurements of the first pass
of a bolus of Gd-DTPA.
•
Quantitative Perfusion MRI in Tumours
L Avruch, C Foottit, G Cron, T Nguyen, M Hogan, IG Cameron
MRI perfusion measurement techniques are being developed which will allow us to
measure perfusion in tumours. In particular, it is expected that we will be able to
accurately measure the permeability surface area product for vessels in tumours to
assess the “leakiness” of the vessels.
NUCLEAR MEDICINE IMAGING
•
Quantitative Myocardial Flow Measurement with SPECT
RG Wells, R deKemp, TD Ruddy, A Celler, T Farncombe
Development of absolute myocardial blood flow measurements using the dedicated
cardiac SPECT camera. Traditional SPECT measures only relative uptake of tracer and
thus misses 50% of multi-vessel disease leading to underdiagnosis of disease severity.
Absolute flow measurement may be possible with the new dedicated cardiac SPECT
technology that is available.
•
Quantitative Small-Animal SPECT imaging.
RG Wells
Small-animal imaging with nuclear medicine is a valuable tool for development of new
diagnostic and therapeutic agents. Capitalizing on this potential requires accurate
images. We are developing techniques for improving the accuracy and precision of
measurements of cardiac function and perfusion in rodent models of heart disease.
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9 Graduate Theses Completed this Year
•
Monte Carlo calculation of volumetric modulated arc therapy and helical tomotherapy
dose distributions for stereotactic ablative radiotherapy lung treatments Jason Bélec,
Carleton University, supervisor BG Clark
•
Cross-Talk Corrections for Multi-Isotope Small-Animal SPECT/CT Rachel Timmins,
Carleton University, supervisor RG Wells
•
Test-retest Repeatability of Rubidium-82 PET myocardial blood flow imaging, Matthew
Efseaff, Carleton University, supervisor RA deKemp
10 Projects Completed this Year
•
Commissioning of CMS Monte Carlo Dose Calculation Module for electron beams
JE Cygler, E Vandervoort
Recently CMS released a new Monte Carlo based dose calculation module for electron
beams. We have finished collecting the required experimental data to model the beams
for Siemens Primus (5 energies). To date all beam energies for Siemens linac have been
modeled and fully validated. We evaluated the calculation accuracy for homogeneous
and heterogeneous phantoms. Effects of simulation parameters on accuracy and speed
of calculations was also studied. Our results indicated a need for the model improvement
for the 13 MeV electron beam. This was communicated to CMS and we worked with
them to improve this beam model. The clinical procedures have been written and in
December 2011 the system was released for clinical use for Siemens linacs. A
manuscript is in preparation. The Elekta electron beams have been installed in XiO and
the validation of the TPS is in progress.
•
Commissioning and Clinical Implementation of the Monte Carlo Dose
Calculation Method for Cyberknife Multiplan Treatment Planning Software
J Szanto, E Henderson N Ploquin and E Vandervoort
The Multiplan treatment planning system has recently released a new module for beam
modeling and commissioning of the Monte-Carlo calculation algorithm. This algorithm
provides the most accurate dose-computation method for extra cranial treatments
especially in highly heterogeneous tissues such as lung. All of the necessary beam data
has been collected and the modeling process has been completed for all fixed cones and
for the iris variable aperture. Clinical validation of the algorithm has been performed
using gafchromic film, ion chambers and diodes measurements performed within slabs
of simulated tissue materials and using an in-house anthropomorphic lung phantom.
Page 35/59
BGC/DV/May 2013
Annual Report 2012
Medical Physics
The Ottawa Hospital
11 National/International Conference Representation
AAPM (American Association of Physicists in Medicine Annual Scientific Meeting, Charlotte,
NC, 28 July – 3 August, 2012
BG Clark, JE Cygler, CB Kwok
ARO: Accuray User’s group meeting, Dallas, Texas, 29 – 30 November 2012
E Henderson, DJ La Russa
Cancer Care Ontario Winter Meeting, Advanced Imaging Applications: IMRT and
Brachytherapy, Toronto, ON, 15 February, 2012
A Cherpak, JE Cygler, C Foottit, D Fraser, E Henderson, DJ La Russa
CARO (Canadian Association of Radiation Oncology) Annual Scientific Meeting, Ottawa, ON,
13 - 14 September 2012
C Angers, A Cherpak, BG Clark, J Hendry
COMP (Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists) Annual Scientific Meeting, Halifax, NS,
11 – 14 July, 2012, A Cherpak, A Alexander, C Angers, BG Clark, C Foottit, BJ Nyiri,
N Ploquin, M Roumeliotis, R Studinski, E Vandervoort, DE Wilkins
COMP Winter School, Whistler, BC, 29 January – 2 February, 2012, DE Wilkins, S
Neuteboom
ESTRO (European Society for Radiotherapy & Oncology) 12th Biennial Meeting, Barcelona,
Spain, 6 – 13 May, 2012
JE Cygler, J Szanto
ISMRM (International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine) Annual Scientific
Meeting, Melbourne, Australia, May 2012
IG Cameron
SNM (Society of Nuclear Medicine Annual Meeting), West Beach, FL, June 2012
RA deKemp, RG Wells
SRS/SBRT (The Radiosurgery Society) Conference, Carlsbad, CA, 22 – 26 February, 2012
E Vandervoort
Swiss Medical Physics Society Meeting, Switzerland, 12 - 19 November, 2012
JE Cygler
World Congress of Medical Physics Conference, Beijing, China, 23 May – 31 May, 2012
JE Cygler
Page 36/59
BGC/DV/May 2013
Annual Report 2012
Medical Physics
The Ottawa Hospital
PROFILE OF PHYSICISTS
Crystal Plume Angers, M.Sc., MCCPM .................................... 38
Jason Bélec, Ph.D., MCCPM ................................................. 39
Lesley Buckley, Ph.D., MCCPM ............................................. 40
Ian G. Cameron, Ph.D., FCCPM ............................................ 41
Brenda G. Clark, Ph.D., FCCPM, FAAPM ................................. 42
Joanna E. Cygler, Ph.D., FCCPM, FAAPM ................................ 43
Robert deKemp, Ph.D., P.Eng, P.Phys. .................................. 44
Danielle Fraser, Ph.D., MCCPM ............................................. 45
Lee H. Gerig, Ph.D., FCCPM ................................................. 46
Elizabeth Henderson, Ph.D., FCCPM ...................................... 47
Chun-Bun Kwok, Ph.D., MCCPM ........................................... 48
Daniel La Russa, Ph.D., MCCPM............................................ 49
Katie S. Lekx-Toniolo, Ph.D., MCCPM .................................... 50
Malgorzata (Gosia) Niedbala, Ph.D., MCCPM .......................... 51
Balazs Nyiri, Ph.D., MCCPM ................................................. 52
Nicolas Ploquin, Ph.D., MCCPM ............................................. 53
Ryan Studinski, Ph.D., MCCPM ............................................. 54
Janos Szanto, PhD., FCCPM ................................................. 55
Rebecca E. Thornhill, Ph.D................................................... 56
Eric Vandervoort, PhD., MCCPM ........................................... 57
R. Glenn Wells, Ph.D., FCCPM .............................................. 58
David E. Wilkins, Ph.D., FCCPM ............................................ 59
Page 37/59
BGC/DV/May 2013
Annual Report 2012
Medical Physics
The Ottawa Hospital
Crystal Plume Angers, M.Sc., MCCPM
Medical Physicist, The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre
Professional Certification:
2008
Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine, member (MCCPM)
Research Interests:
•
Development and implementation of new measurement devices for routine linac
quality assurance. New test methods and devices (such as ion chamber arrays and
diode arrays) are required to replace traditional film based test methods.
•
The application of quality tools and process control to routine linac quality assurance
testing.
Publications and Presentations:
2 peer reviewed articles, 6 published abstracts
Selected Publications:
J.J. Battista, R.B. Barnett, D.L.D. Mason, C.A. Plume, M.S. MacPherson, B. Fisher, A.T.
Porter, New radioactive isotope developed in Canada for cancer brachytherapy,
Current Onco. 2: 6-13, 1995
C.A. Plume, S.E. Daly, A.T. Porter, R.B. Barnett, J.J. Battista, The Relative Biological
Effectiveness of Ytterbium-169 for Low Dose Rate Irradiation of Cultured
Mammalian Cell, Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol. Phys. 25(5): 835-840, 1993
Published Abstracts:
C Angers*, R Studinski, D La Russa, J Bahm, J Renaud, B G Clark, Risk Assessment of
Clinical Radiation Processes using Failure Modes and Effect Analysis, Med. Phys. 39,
4628 (2012), Poster presentation at the Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists Annual
Meeting, Halifax, Nova Scotia, July 11-14, 2012
C. Angers, J. Renaud, M. MacPherson, B. Clark, Saving Trees and Improving Workflow,
Med. Phys. 35(7): 3413, presented at the Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists
annual meeting, Quebec City, Quebec, June 25 - 28, 2008
C. Angers and J.E. Cygler, Beam Characterization of the Equinox Cobalt-60
Treatment Unit, Med. Phys. 34(6), 2422, presented at the American Association of
Physicists in Medicine, Minneapolis, Minnesota, July 22 - 26, 2007
J. Battista, D. Mason, M. MacPherson, C.A. Plume, R. Barnett, G. Lazarescu, B. Fisher, A.
Porter, Ytterbium-169 Seeds for Brachytherapy: from the Laboratory to the
Operating Room, International Symposium on the Technical Basis for a Brachytherapy
System in Korea, Seoul Korea, October 17, 2002
J.E. Cygler, B. Esche, C. Angers, L. Eapen, M. Labinaz, J.F. Marquis, Endovascular
brachytherapy strategies for treatment of coronary restenosis at sites of arterial
bifurcation, Radiotherapy and Oncology 64 (S1), S228, 21st Annual ESTRO Meeting,
Prague, Czech Republic, September 17-21, 2002
Page 38/59
BGC/DV/May 2013
Annual Report 2012
Medical Physics
The Ottawa Hospital
Jason Bélec, Ph.D., MCCPM
Medical Physicist, The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre
Professional Certification:
2007
Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine, member (MCCPM)
Research Interests:
•
Comparative studies of realistic optimal solution space offered by several treatment
techniques (Tomotherapy, VMAT, step & shoot IMRT, CyberKnife, etc…)
•
Use of Monte Carlo calculations to study the impact of dynamic jaws on treatment time
for tomotherapy treatment
•
Realistic Monte Carlo calculations of dose distribution for dynamic radiation treatments
(lung motion, VMAT, Tomotherapy, etc…)
•
Monte Carlo calculations of detector perturbation factors for dynamic treatments
•
Use of Monte Carlo calculations to reconstructing 3D dose distributions from two
orthogonal 2D detector arrays for dynamic treatments
Publications and Presentations: 2 peer reviewed articles, 8 published abstracts
Publications:
J. Belec, N. Ploquin, D. J. La Russa, B. G. Clark: Position-probability-sampled Monte
Carlo calculation of VMAT, 3DCRT, step-shoot IMRT, and helical tomotherapy dose
distributions using BEAMnrc/DOSXYZnrc Med. Phys. 38, 948 (2011)
J. Bélec, H. J. Patrocinio, F. Verhaegen: Development of a Monte Carlo model for the
Brainlab microMLC. Physics in Medicine and Biology 2005:50:787-799.
Published Abstracts:
D Owen, A Cherpak, J Cygler, J Belec and B Clark Patient‐Specific Evaluation of the
Need for Adaptive Therapy in Lung SBRT Med. Phys. 38, 3716, 2011, Presented at the
2011 Joint AAPM/COMP Annual Scientific Meeting, Vancouver, 31July-4 August 2011
N Ploquin, J Belec, JM Caudrelier and B G Clark, Med Phys 38, 3680, 2011 Accuracy of Low
Doses in Lung for Locoregional Breast Irradiation with TomoTherapy and VMAT
J Belec, N Ploquin, and BG Clark Monte Carlo Calculation of Breathing Interplay Effect
and Dose Calculation Discretization Error for VMAT and TomoTherapy Stereotactic
Lung Treatments Med. Phys. 38, 3870 (2011)
N Ploquin, J Belec, B Clark, IMRT dosimetry for prostate, breast and head-and-neck:
comparing biologically based step-and-shoot IMRT with dynamic helical
tomotherapy, Presented at COMP Annual Meeting, Quebec, Quebec, 2009.
J. Belec, H. J. Patrocinio, F. Verhaegen: Development of a Monte Carlo component
model for a micro multileaf collimator used for conformal beam stereotactic
radiosurgery treatment. Proceedings of Current Topics in Monte Carlo Treatment Planning
Advanced Workshop, Montreal, Quebec, 2004.
J. Belec, H. J. Patrocinio, F. Verhaegen: A Monte Carlo approach to the validation of a
pencil beam algorithm used in treatment planning for static conformal beam
radiosurgery. Presented at the Young Investigator Symposium of the AAPM annual
Meeting, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, 2004 and (in French) at the 72nd Annual Meeting of the
ACFAS, Montreal, Québec, 2004.
Page 39/59
BGC/DV/May 2013
Annual Report 2012
Medical Physics
The Ottawa Hospital
Lesley Buckley, Ph.D., MCCPM
Medical Physicist, The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre
Professional Certification:
2008
Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine, member (MCCPM)
Research Interests:
•
Improvements in IGRT
•
Biases within the treatment planning process
Publications and Presentations:
6 peer reviewed articles, 10 published abstracts
Selected Publications:
A. Viamonte, LAR da Rosa, LA Buckley, A Cherpak and JE Cygler. Radiotherapy dosimetry
using a commercial OSL system. Med. Phys. 35, 1261 (2008)
Lesley A. Buckley and D. W. O. Rogers. Wall correction factors, P wall , for parallel-plate
ionization chambers. Med. Phys. 33, 1788-1796 (2006)
Lesley A. Buckley and D. W. O. Rogers. Wall correction factors, P wall , for thimble
ionization chambers. Med. Phys. 33, 455-464 (2006)
Lesley A. Buckley, I. Kawrakow and D. W. O. Rogers. CSnrc: Correlated sampling Monte
Carlo calculations using EGSnrc. Med. Phys. 31, 3425-3435 (2004)
Lesley A. Buckley, I. Kawrakow and D. W. O. Rogers. An EGSnrc investigation of cavity
theory for ion chambers measuring air kerma. Med. Phys. 30, 1211-1218 (2003)
Selected Abstracts:
G. Lagmago Kamta, L.A. Buckley, E Henderson, Clinical evaluation of an Atlas-Based
Auto-Segmentation application for auto-contouring pelvic targets and OARs, COMP
Annual meeting, Ottawa, ON, June 2010
A Viamonte Marin, L Ribeiro da Rosa, L Buckley, A Cherpak and J Cygler. Evaluation ofa
commercial OSL system for dosimetry measurements in radiotherapy beams.
Presented at the AAPM annual meeting, 2007
L.A. Buckley and D.W.O. Rogers. Calculated P wall values in clinical electron beams.
Presented at the AAPM annual meeting, Seattle WA, 2005
L.A. Buckley and D.W.O. Rogers. Calculated P wall values in clinical photon beams.
Presented at the COMP annual meeting, Hamilton ON, 2005
L.A. Buckley, D.W.O. Rogers, M. Aznar and J. Medin. Monte Carlo calculated dose to
Al 2 O 3 per unit dose to water in photon beams compared to measured OSL
response per unit dose to water. Presented at the AAPM annual meeting, Pittsburgh, PA,
2004
Page 40/59
BGC/DV/May 2013
Annual Report 2012
Medical Physics
The Ottawa Hospital
Ian G. Cameron, Ph.D., FCCPM
Senior Medical Physicist, MRI Unit, The Ottawa Hospital
Adjunct Professor, Department of Physics, Carleton University
Assistant Professor, Department of Radiological Sciences, University of Ottawa
Clinical Investigator, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
Member, Ottawa Medical Physics Institute (OMPI)
Professional Certification:
2005
2003
Canadian Collect of Physicists in Medicine, fellow (FCCPM)
Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine, member (MCCPM)
Research Interests:
•
With Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), "pictures" of the inside of the body are obtained noninvasively. The signals from which these MR images are made are induced mainly by 1H nuclei of
water. MRI has become a vital part of diagnostic medicine, especially for head, spine and joint
imaging. Two areas of MRI research, which are available for graduate student involvement, are
diffusion MRI and perfusion MRI. This work will be done on the MR scanners at The Ottawa
Hospital.
•
Contrast between tissues in an MR image is a result of differences in inherent tissue parameters
such as MR relaxation times or water diffusion coefficients (D) between tissues: however, the
physics of exactly how these processes contribute to the contrast is often unclear. MR diffusion
measurements are rich in information about the microscopic environment of the cells. The
challenge is to extract this information and display it in a meaningful way. Currently our focus is
on separating the intracellular behaviour from extracelluar dynamics for human brain white matter
in vivo and to study the exchange of water between these two environments.
Publications and Presentations:
36 peer reviewed articles, 82 presentations at national / international conferences
Selected Publications:
AM Smith, L Walker, MS Freedman, L Berrigan, J St. Pierre, M Hogan, IG Cameron, Activation
Patterns in Multiple Sclerosis on the Computerized Tests and Information Processing, J of
Neuro. Sci., 312(1-2), 131-137 (2012)
KS Rakhra, PJ Lattanzio, A Cardenas-Blanco, IG Cameron, PE Beaule, Can T 1ρ MRI Detect
Acetabular Cartilage Degeneration in Femoroacetabular Impingement? – A Pilot Study, Bone
and Joint Surgery, 94-B(9), 1187-1192 (2012)
C Gomez-Laberge, A Adler, IG Cameron, T Nguyen, MJ Hogan, A Bayesian Hierarchical Correlation
Model for fMRI Cluster Analysis, IEEE Trans. On Biomed. Engineering 58 (7), 1067-1976 (2011).
C Foottit, G.O. Cron, M.J. Hogan, T Nguyen and I.G. Cameron, Feasibility of using Phase to
Measure the Venous Output Function for Quantitative DCE-MRI in the Human Brain, Magn.
Reson. Med, 63, 772-781 (2010).
AM Smith, LAS Walker, M Freedman, C DeMeulemeester, M Hogan, IG Cameron. fMRI Investigation
of Disinhibition in Cognitively Impaired Patients with Multiple Sclerosis, J Neurological
Sciences, 281, 58-63 (2009).
J-M Caudrelier, M Vermandel, N Betrouni, B Nyiri, IG Cameron, J Rousseau, Towards an Accurate
and Robust Method Based on Fuzzy Logic Principles for the Reconstruction and
Quantification of Large Volumes from MR and CT Images, Br. J. Radiol. 82, 228-34 (2009).
A Cardenas-Blanco, C Tejos, P Irarrazaval, IG Cameron, Noise in Magnituded Magnetic Resonance
Images, Concepts in Magn. Reson. 32A(6), 409-416 (2008).
Page 41/59
BGC/DV/May 2013
Annual Report 2012
Medical Physics
The Ottawa Hospital
Brenda G. Clark, Ph.D., FCCPM, FAAPM
Chief, Medical Physics, The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre
Professor, Department of Radiology, University of Ottawa
Adjunct Research Professor, Department of Physics, Carleton University
Clinical Investigator, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
Member, Ottawa Medical Physics Institute (OMPI)
Professional Certification:
1995
1989
Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine, fellow, (FCCPM)
Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine, member, (MCCPM)
Research Interests:
•
The management of error in radiation treatment through the use of incident learning
systems and failure modes and effect analysis
•
Stereotactic Radiosurgery and IMRT treatment planning
Publications and Presentations:
57 peer reviewed articles, 27 invited presentations, 148 presentations at national /
international conferences, 3 patents
Selected Recent Publications:
J.J. Battista, B.G. Clark, M.S. Patterson, L. Beaulieu, M.B. Sharpe, L.J. Schreiner, M.S. MacPherson, J.
Van Dyk: Medical physics staffing for radiation oncology: a decade of experience in Ontario,
Canada J App. Cl Med Phys, 13(1), 93-110, 2012
BG Clark, RJ Brown, J Ploquin, PD Dunscombe: Patient safety improvements in radiation
treatment through 5 years of incident learning Practical Radiation Oncology, 2012 DOI
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.prro.2012.08.001
J Belec, N Ploquin, DJ La Russa, BG Clark: Position-probability-sampled Monte Carlo calculation
of VMAT, 3DCRT, step-shoot IMRT, and helical tomotherapy dose distributions using
BEAMnrc/DOSXYZnrc Med. Phys. 38, 948, 2011
BG Clark, RJ Brown, JL Ploquin, AL Kind, L Grimard: The management of radiation treatment
error through incident learning. Radiother Oncol 95, 344-349, 2010
B McCurdy, L Duggan, S Howlett, BG Clark: A comparison of medical physics training and
education programs – Canada and Australia Aus Phys & Eng Sci in Med 32,251-260, 2009
A Mestrovic, A Nichol, BG Clark, K Otto: Integration of on-line imaging, plan adaptation and
radiation delivery: proof of concept using digital tomosynthesis. Phys Med Biol 54,3803-3819,
2009
BG Clark, C Candish, E Vollans, E Gete, R Lee, M Martin, R Ma, M McKenzie: Optimization of
stereotactic radiotherapy treatment delivery technique for base-of-skull meningiomas. Med
Dosim; 33(3): 239-247, 2008
SH Benedict, FJ Bova, BG Clark, SJ Goetsch, WH Hinson, DD Leavitt, DJ Schlesinger, KM Yenice: The
role of medical physicists in developing stereotactic radiosurgery Med. Phys. 35, 4262, 2008
Montgomery L, Macpherson M, Gerig L, Carty K, Fox G, Esche B, Clark BG: Simultaneous
treatment of multiple basal cell carcinoma lesions. Br J Radiol.81(972):e290-2, 2008
Macpherson M, Montgomery L, Fox G, Carty K, Gerig L, Macrae R, Grimard L, Clark BG,
Samant R: On-line rapid palliation using helical tomotherapy: A prospective
feasibility study. Radiother Oncol. Apr;87(1):116-8, 2008
Page 42/59
BGC/DV/May 2013
Annual Report 2012
Medical Physics
The Ottawa Hospital
Joanna E. Cygler, Ph.D., FCCPM, FAAPM
Senior Medical Physicist, The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre
Professor, Department of Radiology, University of Ottawa Hospital
Adjunct Research Professor, Department of Physics, Carleton University
Clinical Investigator, Ottawa Health Research Institute (OHRI)
Member, Ottawa Medical Physics Institute (OMPI)
Professional Certification:
1994 Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine, fellow, (FCCPM)
1994 Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine, member, (MCCPM)
Awards:
2007
Fellow, American Association of Physicists in Medicine, (FAAPM)
Research Interests:
Main research interests: dosimetry (with emphasis on electron beams), brachytherapy, development
of new in-vivo dosimeter methods and detectors, 4D dosimetry, image guided radiotherapy,
radiobiology, adaptive radiotherapy, Monte Carlo dose calculations, radiobiology.
Publications and Presentations:
1 book (co-editor), 5 book chapters, 52 peer reviewed articles, >135 published abstracts, over 45
invited presentations, 1 CAPCA technical report, 2 other
Selected Publications:
A Cherpak, M Serban, J Seuntjens, JE Cygler. 4D dose-position verification in radiation therapy
using the RADPOS system in a deformable lung phantom, Med. Phys. 38, 179-187, 2011.
J Crook, J Jezioranski, JE Cygler. Penile brachytherapy:
issues, Brachytherapy 9, 151-158, 2010.
Technical aspects and post implant
A Cherpak, W Ding, A Hallil, JE Cygler. Evaluation of a novel 4D in vivo dosimetry system, Med.
Phys. 36, 1672-1679, 2009.
LAR Viamonte, LA da Rosa, L Buckley, A Cherpak, JE Cygler.
commercial OSL system, Med. Phys. 35, 1261-1266, 2008.
Radiotherapy dosimetry using
A Cherpak, RCN Studinski, JE Cygler. MOSFET detectors in quality assurance of tomotherapy
treatments, Radiother. Oncol., 86, 242-250, 2008.
I Chetty, B Curran, JE Cygler et al. Report of the AAPM Task Group No. 105: Issues associated
with clinical implementation of Monte Carlo-based photon and electron external beam
treatment planning. Med. Phys. 34, 4818-4853, 2007.
BA Faddegon, JE Cygler. Use of Monte Carlo Method in Accelerator Head Simulation and
Modelling for Electron Beams, Integrating New Technologies into Clinic: Monte Carlo and
Image-Guided Radiation Therapy. AAPM Monograph No. 32, edited by BH Curran, JM Balter, IJ
Cherry, Medical Physics Publishing (Madison, WI, 2006), p.51-69.
JE Cygler, GM Daskalov, GH Chan, GX Ding. Evaluation of the first commercial Monte Carlo dose
calculation engine for electron beams treatment planning, Med. Phys. 31, 142-153, 2004.
JE Cygler, A Saoudi, G Perry, C Morash, C. E. Feasibility study of using MOSFET detectors for in
vivo Dosimetry during permanent low-dose-rate prostate implants.
Radiotherapy and
Oncology, 80, 296-301, 2006.
JE Cygler, E Heather, GX Ding, JP Seuntjens. Monte Carlo Systems in Preclinical and Clinical
Treatment Planning: Pitfalls and Triumphs. AAPM Monograph No. 32, edited by BH Curran, JM
Balter, IJ Cherry, Medical Physics Publishing (Madison, WI, 2006), p.199-232.
Page 43/59
BGC/DV/May 2013
Annual Report 2012
Medical Physics
The Ottawa Hospital
Robert deKemp, Ph.D., P.Eng, P.Phys.
Head Imaging Physicist, Cardiac Imaging, University of Ottawa Heart Institute
Associate Professor, Medicine (Cardiology), University of Ottawa
Cross-appointment, Engineering (EECS), University of Ottawa
Adjunct Professor, Department of Physics, Carleton University
Past-Director, Ottawa Medical Physics Institute (OMPI), Carleton University
Professional Certification:
1994
P.Eng. Professional Engineer
2003
P.Phys. Professional Physicist
Research Interests:
•
Multi-modality and hybrid imaging technology development and application to cardiovascular
medicine
Publications (lifetime total):
113 peer-reviewed papers, 34 conference proceedings, 13 book chapters, 250+ abstracts
Selected Publications (2012):
Book Chapters:
DaSilva JN, Valadiva AC, Mylonas I, Hadizad T, deKemp RA, Beanlands RSB. “PET
Radiopharmaceuticals”, Chapter 13 in Handbook of Nuclear Cardiology: Cardiac SPECT and Cardiac
PET. Heller GV, Hendel RC (Eds). Springer 2012.
Renaud J, Beanlands RSB, deKemp RA. “PET Instrumentation”, Chapter 14 in Handbook of Nuclear
Cardiology: Cardiac SPECT and Cardiac PET. Heller GV, Hendel RC (Eds). Springer 2012.
Peer-Reviewed Papers:
deKemp RA, Declerck J, Klein R, Pan X-B, Nakazato R, Tonge C, Arumugam P, Berman DS, Germano
G, Beanlands RS, Slomka PJ. Reproducibility of Stress and Rest Myocardial Blood Flow Assessed with
3D dynamic PET-CT and a one-tissue-compartment model of 82Rb kinetics. J Nucl Med. 2013.
Ohira H, McArdle B, Cocker MS, deKemp RA, DaSilva JN, Beanlands RS. Current and Future Clinical
Applications of Cardiac Positron Emission Tomography. Circulation J. 2013.
Croteau E, Renaud JR, deKemp RA. Cardiac Micro-PET-CT. Curr Cardiovasc Imaging Reports 2013
[Review].
Liu Y, Ghosh N, Dwivedi G, Chow BJ, deKemp RA, DaSilva J, Guo A, Garrard L, Beanlands RSB,
Ruddy TD. Identification of Inflamed Aortic Plaque in Conventional FDG-PET Myocardial Viability
Studies. Can J Cardiol 2012.
Renaud JR, DaSilva JN, Beanlands RS, deKemp RA. Characterizing the Normal Range of Myocardial
Blood Flow with 82Rubidium and 13N-Ammonia PET Imaging. J Nucl Cardiol 2013
S.L. Thorn, R.A. deKemp, T. Dumouchel, R. Klein, J.M. Renaud, R.G.Wells, M. Gollob, R.S.
Beanlands, J.N. DaSilva, Repeatable Non-Invasive Imaging of FDG PET in the Mouse
Myocardium: Evaluation of Tracer Kinetics in a Type 1 Diabetes Model. [in-press].
A. Pourmoghaddas, R. Klein, R.A. deKemp, R.G. Wells .Respiratory phase alignment
improves blood-flow quantification in Rb82 PET myocardial perfusion imaging.. Med. Phys.
40, 022503 (11 pages) [in-press].
Page 44/59
BGC/DV/May 2013
Annual Report 2012
Medical Physics
The Ottawa Hospital
Danielle Fraser, Ph.D., MCCPM
Medical Physicist, The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre
Professional Certification:
2012
Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine, member, (MCCPM)
Research Interests:
•
Image guided radiation therapy, implications for treatment planning through to
patient alignment, derivation of margins, decision making process
•
Dosimetry, dose measurement in non-standard fields
Publications and Presentations:
5 peer reviewed articles, 14 published abstracts
Selected Publications:
Fraser DJ, Chen Y, Poon E, et al. Dosimetric consequences of misalignment and
realignment in prostate 3DCRT using intramodality ultrasound image guidance.
Med Phys 2010;37: 2787-2795.
Fraser DJ, Wong P, Sultanem K, Verhaegen F. Dosimetric evolution of the breast
electron boost target using 3D ultrasound imaging. Radiother Oncol 2010;96: 185191.
Fraser D, Parker W, Seuntjens J. Characterization of cylindrical ionization chambers
for patient specific IMRT QA. J Appl Clin Med Phys 2009;10:241-251.
Fraser D, Mark C, Cury F, et al. Comparison of conventional and Monte Carlo dose
calculations for prostate treatments. J Phys Conf Ser 2008;102:012010.
Fraser D, Fava P, Cury F, et al. Evaluation of a prototype 3D ultrasound system for
multimodality imaging of cervical nodes for adaptive radiation therapy. Proc of SPIE
2007;6509:1605-7422/07.
Selected Abstracts:
Fraser DJ, Nyiri B, Gerig LH. Investigation of target motion for serially delivered
TMI treatments. 53rd Joint AAPM/COMP meeting, Vancouver, July 31- August 4 2011.
Fraser D, Wong P, Verhaegen F. Electron Monte Carlo dose calculations for breast
treatments. ESTRO 28, Maastricht, the Netherlands, August 30 - September 3 2009.
Verhaegen F, Fraser D, Falco T. Complementary information from 3D ultrasound in
image-guided radiotherapy. Fourth International Conference on Translational Research
and Pre-Clinical Strategies in Radiation Oncology, Geneva Switzerland, March 11-13 2009.
D Fraser, F Cury, C Mark, G Shenouda, M Duclo, T Falco, F Verghaegen, Integration of
3D ultrasound image-guidance in Monte Carlo dose calculations. 3rd annual McGill
Workshop on Monte Carlo Techniques in Radiotherapy Delivery and Verification, McGill
University, Montreal QC, May 29-June 1 2007.
Page 45/59
BGC/DV/May 2013
Annual Report 2012
Medical Physics
The Ottawa Hospital
Lee H. Gerig, Ph.D., FCCPM
Senior Medical Physicist, The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre
Assistant Professor, Department of Radiology, University of Ottawa
Adjunct Professor, Department of Physics, Carleton University
Clinical Investigator, Ottawa Health Research Institute (OHRI)
Member, Ottawa Medical Physics Institute (OMPI)
Professional Certification:
1992
Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine, fellow, (FCCPM)
1992
Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine, member, (MCCPM)
Research Interests:
We are developing a model by which we can examine the entire radiation cancer treatment process,
including staging, imaging, prescription, treatment planning and finally treatment delivery. The model
treats the radiation therapy process as a linear chain, in that information is collected and passed from
one stage of patient care to the next. The output of one stage acts as the input for the next. As a
simple example, staging is determined based on the results of many tests including biochemistry,
imaging and physical examination. Thus the output of the testing acts as the input for determination
of the target volume. This chain continues and culminates in the delivery of treatment. As a result of
the temporal and spatial dose actually delivered the patient experiences an outcome (product). Thus,
any weakness or error in any part of the chain will contribute to a reduced probability of a favourable
outcome. In order to achieve optimal improvement in the system with finite resources the weakest
links in the chain must be identified. The model is coupled to a biological response in order to predict
outcome. We have chosen for this model the linear quadratic model with a repair term and
Gompertzian growth kinetics and we will use Normal Tissue Complication Probability (NTCP) and
Tumour Control Probability (TCP) as our endpoints. Combining all of these elements we hope to
develop a model which would help predict the impact of various changes of practice and the
introduction of new technologies. Integrating this with estimates on the cost (negative or positive) of
the changes one can then make a predictive cost benefit analysis.
Publications and Presentations:
46 peer reviewed articles, 56 published abstracts, 3 technical reports
Selected Publications:
Nyiri BJ, Smale JR, Gerig LH: Two self-referencing methods for the measurement of beam
spot position. Med Phys.; 39(12):7635-43, Dec 2012
R Samant, LH Gerig, L Montgomery, M MacPherson, G Fox, R MacRae, K Carty, S
Andrusyk, P Genest, B Nyiri, Rapid palliative radiotherapy: comparing IG-IMRT with more
conventional approaches", Journal of Radiotherapy in Practice, 9, 143-148, 2010
LH Gerig, M Niedbala, BJ Nyiri, Dose perturbations by two carbon fiber treatment
couches and the ability of a commercial treatment planning system to predict these effects.
Med Phys;37:322-8 2010
M MacPherson, L Montgomery, G Fox, K Carty, LH Gerig, R MacRae, et al. On-line rapid
palliation using helical tomotherapy: a prospective feasibility study. Radiother Oncol 2008
Apr;87(1):116-8.
Z Gao, DE Wilkins, L Eapen, C Morash, Y Wassef, LH Gerig, A Study of Prostate
Delineation Referenced Against a Gold Standard Created from the Visible Human Data,
Radiotherapy and Oncology 85(2):239-46 2007
Page 46/59
BGC/DV/May 2013
Annual Report 2012
Medical Physics
The Ottawa Hospital
Elizabeth Henderson, Ph.D., FCCPM
Senior Medical Physicist, The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre
Assistant Professor, Department of Radiology, University of Ottawa
Member, Ottawa Medical Physics Institute (OMPI)
Professional Certification:
2011 Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine, fellow, (FCCPM)
2003 Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine, member, (MCCPM)
Research Interests:
Small field dosimetry
Publications and Presentations:
7 peer reviewed articles, 21 published abstracts
Selected Publications:
M.A. Haider, M. Milosevic, A. Fyles, I. Sitartchouk, I. Yeung, E. Henderson, G. Lockwood,
T-Y. Lee, T.P.L. Roberts Assessment of the tumor microenvironment in cervix cancer
using dynamic contrast enhanced CT, interstitial fluid pressure and oxygen
measurements. Int. J.Rad.Onc.Biol.Phys.62: 1100-7, 2005.
E. Henderson, M.F. Milosevic, M.A. Haider, I.W.T. Yeung Functional CT imaging of
prostate cancer. Physics in Medicine and Biology 48: 3085-3100, 2003.
T.G. Purdie, E. Henderson, T.-Y. Lee Functional CT imaging of angiogenesis in rabbit
VX2 soft tissue tumour. Physics in Medicine and Biology 46: 3161-75, 2001.
E. Henderson, J. Sykes, D. Drost, M.K. Welch, H.-J. Weinmann, B.K. Rutt, T.-Y. Lee MR
measurement oftracer kinetic parameters in a spontaneous canine breast tumour
model: a comparison between two MR contrast agents.
Journal of Magnetic
Resonance Imaging 12: 991-1003, 2000.
A dual detector method for determining CyberKnife Total Scatter Factors (TSF), J Szanto, E
Henderson. Presented at the International Stereotactic Radiosurgery Society (ISRS), Paris,
France, May 2011 (Poster)
Use of the SRS Profiler for CyberKnife Patient Specific Quality Assurance (PSQA),
Henderson, J Szanto. Presented at the International Stereotactic Radiosurgery Society
(ISRS), Paris, France, May 2011 (Poster)
A Dual Detector Method for Determining CyberKnife Total Scatter Factors (TSF), J Szanto,
E Henderson, 2011 Joint AAPM/COMP Meeting, Vancouver, BC, 31 Jul – 4Aug2011 (Poster)
Page 47/59
BGC/DV/May 2013
Annual Report 2012
Medical Physics
The Ottawa Hospital
Chun-Bun Kwok, Ph.D., MCCPM
Medical Physicist, The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre
Assistant Professor, Department of Radiology, University of Ottawa
Professional Certification:
2001
Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine, member, (MCCPM)
Research Interests:
Two areas of special research interests: IGRT research and non x-ray film based quality
assurance (QA) of treatment accelerator.
Image-Guided Radiation Therapy - The IGRT research focuses on assuring the
congruence between imaging and radiation therapy. In the case of x-ray based IGRT (kV
CBCT, MVCT, etc. imaging), the congruence investigation is done by means of determining
the respective imaging/therapy beam focal spots and beam geometries.
Non x-ray film based quality assurance (QA) of treatment accelerators - The aim of
this studying was to eliminate the use of x-ray film in the quality assurance of radiation
treatment units. The work involved investigation and evaluation of currently available, non
x-ray film based treatment machine quality assurance (non x-ray film based machine QA)
techniques. In addition, investigation of appropriate non x-ray film based machine QA
techniques for implementation at The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre (TOHCC).
Publications and Presentations:
10 peer reviewed articles, 31 published abstracts
Selected Publications:
C.B. Kwok, G. Lam, and S. El-Sayed, Suitability of using multi-leaf collimator (MLC)
for photon field matching, Medical Dosimetry 29:184-195, 2004.
G.X. Ding, J.E. Cygler, and C.B. Kwok, Clinical reference dosimetry: Comparison
between AAPM TG-21 and TG-51 protocols, Med. Phys. 27:1217-1225, 2000.
R. Rathee, C.B. Kwok, C. MacGillivray and M. Mirzaei, Commissioning, Clinical
Implementation and Quality Assurance of Siemens’ Virtual WedgeTM, Medical
Dosimetry, Vol. 24(2):145-153, 1999.
C.B. Kwok, M.S. Mathur and J.S.C. McKee, Photoconductivity Improvement in H+
implanted a-Si:H thin film, Materials Letters, 10:457-460, 1991.
M.S. Mathur, C.B. Kwok and J.S.C. McKee, Energetic H2+ assisted Deposition of Thin
Films of Ag and Au, J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 22:1228-1230, 1989.
Page 48/59
BGC/DV/May 2013
Annual Report 2012
Medical Physics
The Ottawa Hospital
Daniel La Russa, Ph.D., MCCPM
Medical Physicist, The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre
Professional Certification:
2012
Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine, member, (MCCPM)
Research Interests:
Quality and Safety in Radiation Therapy:
•
QC management, failure mode and effects analysis, and statistical process control
techniques
TomoTherapy:
•
Adaptive planning techniques
•
Investigating the quality and role of novel new techniques for converting helical
TomoTherapy plans into step-and-shoot and arc-type IMRT plans deliverable on a Carm linac.
Cavity theory/ion chamber dosimetry
•
Investigating new stopping-power ratio formalisms to improve the accuracy of cavity
theory over a larger range of energies and cavity sizes.
Monte Carlo methods
•
Beam modeling and independent verification of dose distributions for clinical IMRT
plans using the EGSnrc Monte Carlo code system.
Publications and Presentations:
7 peer reviewed articles, 8 published abstracts
Selected Publications:
J. Belec, N. Ploquin, D. J. La Russa, B. R. Clark, Position-probability-sampled Monte
Carlo calculation of VMAT, 3DCRT, step-and-shoot imrt, and helical tomotherapy
dose distributions using BEAMnrc/DOSXYZnrc, Med Phys 38 (2), 948 - 960, 2011
D. J. La Russa, D. W. O. Rogers, Accuracy of Spencer-Attix cavity theory and
calculations of fluence correction factors for the air kerma formalism, Medical
Physics, 36 (9), 4173 - 4183, 2009
D. J. La Russa, D. W. O. Rogers, Accuracy of EGSnrc calculations at 60Co energies for
the response of ion cambers configured with various wall materials and cavity
dimensions, Medical Physics, 35 (12), 5629 - 5640, 2008
D. J. La Russa, M. McEwen, D. W. O. Rogers, An experimental and computational
investigation of the standard temperature-pressure correction factor for ion
cambers in kilovoltage x rays, Medical Physics, 34 (12), 4690 - 4699, 2007
D. J. La Russa, D. W. O. Rogers, An EGSnrc investigation of the P TP correction factor
for ion cambers in kilovoltage x rays, Medical Physics, 33 (12), 4590 - 4599, 2006
Page 49/59
BGC/DV/May 2013
Annual Report 2012
Medical Physics
The Ottawa Hospital
Katie S. Lekx-Toniolo, Ph.D., MCCPM
Medical Physicist, The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre
Assistant Professor, Department of Radiology, University of Ottawa
Professional Certification:
2010
Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine, member, (MCCPM)
Research Interests:
•
Stereotactic radiosurgery and radiotherapy techniques
•
Advancing treatment planning techniques in radiation therapy
•
MRI, SPECT, PET/CT, and clinical radiotherapy physics
•
Myocardial blood flow, function, metabolism and viability imaging using MRI, SPECT and
PET
Publications and Presentations:
6 peer reviewed articles, 17 published abstracts, 4 invited presentations
Selected Publications:
Lekx KS, deKemp RA, Beanlands RS, Wisenberg G, Wells RG, Lortie M, Klein R, Zabel P,
Kovacs MS, Sykes J, Prato FS. 3D vs. 2D dynamic 82Rb myocardial blood flow imaging
in a canine model of stunned and infarcted myocardium. Nucl Med Commun.
Jan;31(1):75-81, 2010.
Lekx KS, deKemp RA, Beanlands RS, Wisenberg G, Wells RG, Lortie M, Klein R, Zabel P,
Kovacs MS, Sykes J, Prato FS. Quantification of Regional Myocardial Blood Flow in a
Canine Model of Stunned and Infarcted Myocardium: Comparison of 82Rb PET with
Microspheres. Nucl Med Commun. Jan;31(1):67-74, 2010.
Wisenberg G, Lekx K, Zabel P, Kong H, Mann R, Zeman PR, Datta S, Culshaw CN, Merrifield
P, Bureau Y, Wells G, Sykes J, Prato FS. Cell tracking and therapy evaluation of bone
marrow monocytes and stromal cells using SPECT and CMR in a canine model of
myocardial infarction. J Cardiovasc Magn Reson Apr 27;11(1):11, 2009.
Lekx KS, Fathimani M, Bureau Y, Wisenberg G, Sykes J, Prato FS. Comparison of the
detection of subtle changes in myocardial regional systolic function using
qualitative and semi-quantitative techniques. J Cardiovasc Magn Reson 8(5):731-739,
2006.
Lekx KS, Prato FS, Sykes J, Wisenberg G. The partition coefficient of Gd-DTPA reflects
maintained tissue viability in a canine model of chronic critical coronary stenosis
using MRI. JCMR 6(1):35-44, 2004.
Pereira RS, Prato FS, Lekx K, Sykes J, Wisenberg G. Contrast-enhanced MRI for the
assessment of myocardial viability after permanent coronary artery occlusion.
Magn Reson Med 44: 309-316, 2000.
Page 50/59
BGC/DV/May 2013
Annual Report 2012
Medical Physics
The Ottawa Hospital
Malgorzata (Gosia) Niedbala, Ph.D., MCCPM
Medical Physicist, The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre
Assistant Professor, Department of Radiology, University of Ottawa
Professional Certification:
2008
Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine, member, (MCCPM)
Research Interests:
•
Image guidance for breast treatment
•
OSLD NanoDots in-vivo dosimetry applied to total body irradiation and total marrow
irradiation
Publications and Presentations:
6 peer reviewed articles, 7 published abstracts
Selected Publications:
WK Myint, M Niedbala DE Wilkins, LH Gerig. Investigating treatment dose error due to
beam attenuation by a carbon fiber tabletop. J Appl Clin Med Phys. 2006 Aug
24:7(3):21-7.
M Niedbala, JP McNamee, GP Raaphorst. Response to pulsed dose rate and low dose
rate irradiation with and without mild hyperthermia using human breast
carcinoma cell lines. Int J Hyperthermia. 2006 Feb;22(1):61-75.
GP Raaphorst, DP Yang, G Niedbala. Is DNA polymerase beta important in thermal
radiosensitization? Int J Hyperthermia. 2004 Mar;20(2):140-3.
M Niedbala, CE Ng, GP Raaphorst. Response to pulsed dose rate irradiation with and
without mild hyperthermia using tumour and normal cell lines. Int. J.
Hyperthermia. 17:536-544, 2001
M Niedbala, G Alsbeih, CE Ng, GP Raaphorst. Equivalence of Pulsed-Dose-Rate to LowDose-Rate Irradiation in Tumor and Normal Cell Lines. Radiation Research. 155:297303, 2001
Published Abstracts:
M Niedbala, B Nyiri, LH Gerig. Dose Errors Related to the Treatment Couch. Canadian
Organization of Medical Physicists Annual Meeting, Quebec City, Quebec City, June 2008.
M Niedbala, J Belec, B Nyiri, MS MacPherson, LH Gerig. On the use of non water
equivalent phantoms for IMRT QA. Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists Annual
Meeting, Toronto, Ontario, October 2007.
K Myint, M Niedbala, D E Wilkins, L.H Gerig. An evaluation of treatment dose error due
to beam attenuation from a carbon fiber table top. Canadian Organization of Medical
Physicists Annual Meeting, Hamilton, Ontario, June 2005, Medical Physics 32(7), P40, July
2005.
Page 51/59
BGC/DV/May 2013
Annual Report 2012
Medical Physics
The Ottawa Hospital
Balazs Nyiri, Ph.D., MCCPM
Medical Physicist, The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre
Assistant Professor, Department of Radiology, University of Ottawa
Member, Ottawa Medical Physics Institute (OMPI)
Professional Certification:
2006 Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine, member (MCCPM)
Research Interests:
General techniques:
statistical analysis
Mathematical-physics/modeling; imaging, image processing and analysis;
Specific applications:
Image Guided Radiotherapy/Imaging Improvements:
Using
model phantom MTF
measurements, image analysis and manipulation techniques we are exploring the limits of our
XVI/CBCT imaging equipment and techniques. The objective is to aggressively reduce imaging time
and patient dose (50 and 70% resp.) and to increase equipment life, without compromising targeting
accuracy. We also adapt to special treatment techniques e.g. VMAT and large patients.
Conventional CT QA: The development of sub-pixel accuracy measurements is critical for meaningful
quality assurance of conventional CT's, viz. our clinical geometric tolerances are the same order of
magnitude as the voxel size. One example introduced, still promising further applications, is a holerow phantom, the image of which is Fourier analyzed, including aliasing effects to achieve said goals.
Linacs and Dosimetry: The numerical techniques of large scale linear systems, minimization
methods, and error propagation analysis combined with practical dosimetric experiments are key
techniques of understanding, evaluating and developing various wide field array calibration procedures
for our MatriXX devices. Properly calibrated (0.1-0.3%) these enable us to have accurate and efficient,
true 2D QA and analysis of our clinical beam profiles.
Treatment planning/targeting: To improved prostate CA CTV definition we create pathology based
3D prostate cancer maps and fuse these to planning CT. Beyond the proof of concept phase we are
working on the improvement of various steps of the process: from actual pathology processing,
through image analysis to integration with the planning system. Improved OAR definition requires the
statistical analysis of pt anatomy. An example is the study of the impact of prostatectomy on rectal
position using pre-op and post-op image sets.
Publications and Presentations:
Total: 20 peer reviewed articles, 42 conference presentations, 2 invited lectures, 8 patents
Recent Peer Reviewed Papers:
•
•
Nyiri BJ, Smale JR, Gerig LH: Two self-referencing methods for the measurement of beam spot
position. Med Phys. 2012 Dec; 39(12):7635-43.
Malone S, Croke J, Roustan-Delatour N, Belanger E, Avruch L, Malone C, Morash C, Kayser C, Underhill
K, Li Y, Malone K, Nyiri B, Spaans J: Postoperative radiotherapy for prostate cancer: a comparison of
four consensus guidelines and dosimetric evaluation of 3D-CRT versus tomotherapy IMRT. Int J
Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2012 Nov 1;84(3):725-32. Epub 2012 Mar 22.
Recent Conference Presentations, Posters, Abstracts:
•
B Nyiri, L Gerig: A generalized solution to the wide field array calibration method. Med. Phys. 39,
4643 (2012); COMP 2012 Halifax
•
S Malone, J Croke, E Belanger, K Malone, L Avruch, C Malone, C Morash, Y Li, B Nyiri: Use of pre-op MRI
and «3D prostate cancer maps» to improve CTV definition for post-operative radiation.
Radiaother Oncol vol 103 suppl. 1 (2012) ESTRO 2012 Barcelona
•
JM Croke, B Nyiri, L Avruch, E Belanger, S Malone: Impact of Radical Prostatectomy on Rectal Position
and Implications for CTV Definition for Postoperative Prostate Radiation Therapy, Int J Radiat Oncol
Biol Phys. vol. 84, Issue 3, suppl. 1 Nov 2012, Page S371; ASTRO 2012 Boston
•
S Samiee, M Lacelle, B Nyiri, N Ploquin, JM Caudrelier: Implementation and early evaluation of Linac
IMRT for the post-operative loco-regional radiation of breast cancer. Radiother Oncol vol. 103, suppl.
1, S551 (2012) ESTRO 2012 Barcelona
Page 52/59
BGC/DV/May 2013
Annual Report 2012
Medical Physics
The Ottawa Hospital
Nicolas Ploquin, Ph.D., MCCPM
Medical Physicist, The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre
Assistant Professor, Department of Radiology, University of Ottawa
Member, Ottawa Medical Physics Institute (OMPI)
Professional Certification:
2010
Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine, member (MCCPM)
Research Interests:
Implementation, evaluation and comparison of Volumetric Arc Therapy with current stateof-the-art IMRT techniques (step-and-shoot, sliding window, tomotherapy)
Clinical and Economic Evaluation of current radiation therapy modalities
Stereotactic Radiosurgery
Publications and Presentations:
10 peer reviewed articles, 13 published abstracts
Selected Publications:
W. Smith, G. Menon, N. Wolfe, N. Ploquin, T. Trotter, D. Pudney. IMRT for breast: a
comparison of planning techniques. Phys. Med. Biol. 55, 1231-41, 2010
N. Ploquin, P. Dunscombe. A Cost-Outcome Analysis of Image Guided Patient
Repositioning in the Radiation Treatment of Cancer of the Prostate. Radiother.
Oncol., 93, 25-31, 2009
N. Ploquin, A. Rangel, P. Dunscombe. Phantom evaluation of a commercially available
three modality Image Guided Radiation Therapy system. Med. Phys.; 35(12): 530311, 2008
N. Ploquin, P. Dunscombe. The cost of radiation therapy. Radiother. Oncol., 86, 217223, 2008
A. Rangel, N. Ploquin, I. Kay, P. Dunscombe. Evaluation of linear accelerator
performance standards using an outcome oriented approach. Med Phys.;
35(6):2513-8, 2008.
A. Rangel, N. Ploquin, I. Kay, P. Dunscombe. Towards an objective evaluation of
tolerances for beam modeling in a treatment planning system. Phys Med Biol. 7;
52(19):6011-25, 2007.
P. Dunscombe, S. Iftody, N. Ploquin, E. Ekaette, R. Lee. The Equivalent Uniform Dose as
a Severity Metric for Radiation Treatment Incidents. Radiother. Oncol. 84 64-66, 2007
N. Ploquin, I. Kay, A. Rangel, H. Lau, P. Dunscombe. A comparison of techniques for
simulating set-up error and uncertainty in head and neck IMRT. Med. Phys. 33 (9),
3213-19, 2006
N. Ploquin, W. Song, H. Lau, P. Dunscombe. Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy for
oropharyngeal cancer: the sensitivity of plan objectives and constraints to set-up
uncertainty. Phys. Med. Biol. 50 3515-33, 2005
Page 53/59
BGC/DV/May 2013
Annual Report 2012
Medical Physics
The Ottawa Hospital
Ryan Studinski, Ph.D., MCCPM
Medical Physicist, The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre
Professional Certification:
2008
Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine, member (MCCPM)
Research Interests:
•
SharePlan
SharePlan is an interesting variation on conventional IMRT planning software. It takes
dose distributions generated on a TomoTherapy planning station for a helical
TomoTherapy treatment and creates a step-and-shoot IMRT plan for a C-arm linac. The
linac plan is optimized on the dose distribution from the TomoTherapy, which is imported
directly from the TomoTherapy planning system, and generated within the space of a
few minutes. This product has significant clinical potential since we can quickly create
back-up TomoTherapy plans for linacs.
Several research opportunities exist to
investigate the advantages of the TomoTherapy planning system independent of the
TomoTherapy beam delivery system. It could also help settle which disease sites benefit
the most from being on TomoTherapy rather than on a conventional linear accelerator.
•
TomoTherapy Quality Assurance and Optimization of MVCT HU
The MVCT of the TomoTherapy system has substantial potential as a planning tool in the
clinic due to its ability to image high-Z material(s) without artifacts common with
conventional CT simulators. This system may also be integrated into adaptive planning
techniques on TomoTherapy since it is used daily to capture changes in patient anatomy
and physiology. However, the HU of a TomoTherapy unit have been shown to be
unstable and requires extensive QA to monitor changes. Some changes in HUs have
been shown to be related to energy, but our preliminary results show that the jaw
Publications and Presentations:
7 peer reviewed articles, 8 published abstracts
Selected Publications:
Studinski R, O’Meara J, McNeill F. The feasibility of in vivo measurement of arsenic
and silver by x-ray fluorescence. X-Ray Spectrom 37 51-57 (2008)
Cherpak A, Studinski RCN, Cygler JE. MOSFET Detectors in Quality Assurance of
Tomotherapy Treatments. Radiother Oncol 86 242-250 (2007)
Studinski RC, McNeill FE, O'Meara JM, Chettle DR. A method detection limit for potential
in vivo arsenic measurements with a 50 W x-ray tube. Phys Med Biol. 51 N381-7
(2006)
Studinski R C N, McNeill F E, Chettle D R and O'Meara J M. Estimation of a Method
Detection Limit for an in vivo XRF Arsenic Detection System. Phys Med Biol 50 521530 (2005).
Studinski R C N, McNeill F E, Chettle D R and O'Meara J M.
doped skin phantoms. X-Ray Spectrom 33 285-288 (2004)
Page 54/59
XRF analysis of arsenic-
BGC/DV/May 2013
Annual Report 2012
Medical Physics
The Ottawa Hospital
Janos Szanto, PhD., FCCPM
Senior Medical Physicist, The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre
Assistant Professor, Department of Radiology, University of Ottawa
Member, Ottawa Medical Physics Institute (OMPI)
Clinical Investigator, Ottawa Health Research Institute (OHRI)
Professional Certification:
1994
Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine, fellow (FCCPM)
1993
Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine, member, (MCCPM)
Research Interests:
•
The dosimetry of small, high energy X-ray beams has been investigated both
experimentally and by Monte-Carlo calculations. Some difficulty arises from the lack of
lateral electronic equilibrium and the detectors' relatively large sizes.
•
Optimized output factor measurements for CyberKnife® robotic radiosurgery collimators
•
Accurate dosimetry for patient specific quality assurance using CyberKnife® radiosurgery
•
Platinum based fiducial markers for CT-MRI fusion and real-time tumor tracking during
CyberKnife® radiosurgery
•
Method for dynamic CT angiography (dCTA) for stereotactic frameless stereotactic
radiosurgical (SRS) planning of intracranial Arterio Venous Malformations (AVM)
Publications and Presentations:
22 peer reviewed articles, 55 published abstracts
Selected Publications:
Z. Gao, J. Szanto, L. H. Gerig: Using MLC Inter-Leaf Leakage to Extract Absolute
Spatial Information from EPID Images. Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics, Vol
8, No 1 (2007)
S. Malone, J. Szanto, G. Alsbeih, E. Szumacher, L. Souhami, R. Gray, A. Girard, G.P.
Raaphorst, L. Grimard: Radiation sensitivity testing and late neurological
complications following radiosurgery for AVM: the use of SF2 from fibroblasts as a
predictive factor. Cancer/Radiotherapie 7(4): 225-230, 2003
S. Malone, J. Szanto, G. Alsbeih, E. Szumacher, L. Souhami, R. Gray, A. Girard, G.P.
Raaphorst, l. Grimard: Radiosensibilité et séquelles neurologiques tardives suite à la
radiochirurgie de malformation artérioveineuse: le SF2 comme nouveau facteur
prédictif. Cancer Radiotherapie 7: 225-230, 2003
S. Malone, R. Donker, S. Dahrouge, L. Eapen, I Aref, G. Perry, J. Szanto: Treatment
planning aids in prostate cancer: friend or foe? Int. J. Rad. Onc. Biol. Phys. 51(1): 4955, 2001
Page 55/59
BGC/DV/May 2013
Annual Report 2012
Medical Physics
The Ottawa Hospital
Rebecca E. Thornhill, Ph.D.
Cardiac MRI Physicist, Imaging Scientist, The Ottawa Hospital
and The University of Ottawa Heart Institute
Assistant Professor, Department of Radiology, University of Ottawa
Clinical Investigator, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
Member, Ottawa Medical Physics Institute (OMPI)
Research Interests:
•
MRI is a highly versatile imaging modality, capable of producing images with strong softtissue contrast. In MR, we can exploit prior knowledge of tissue composition, eg, how
‘watery’ or ‘fatty’ we expect a lesion or normal organ to be in order to make certain
structures more conspicuous. However, sometimes the discrepancy between the
pathology and normal tissue is too weak to enable a confident distinction. One key area
of MR research is the development of techniques to exaggerate the inherent differences
between lesion and healthy tissue by dynamic contrast-enhanced imaging. By tracking
contrast-related changes in MRI signal over time, we can estimate the concentration of
contrast-agent. This is potentially useful, since we can apply mathematical models to
estimate physiologically meaningful parameters like blood flow or vascular ‘leakiness,’
which in turn may enable us to characterize tumour aggressiveness, as well as certain
forms of heart failure.
•
In addition to blood flow and related information, my research interests are largely
concerned with how quantitative image texture and lesion morphology can be used to
identify “signature” patterns associated with various pathologies. Current applications
include delineation of malignant from benign lymph nodes on rectal MRI and lung CT
images, as well as identification of biologically aggressive musculoskeletal and breast
tumours. We are also investigating quantitative MRI texture features for characterizing
heart failure, particularly those sub-types for which conventional visual assessment
lacks diagnostic accuracy.
Publications and Presentations:
18 peer reviewed articles, 39 presentations at national / international conferences
Selected Publications:
1. Thornhill RE, Chen S, Rammo W, Mikulis DJ, Kassner A. Contrast-enhanced MRI in
acute ischemic stroke: T2* measures of blood-brain barrier permeability and their
relationship to T1 estimates and hemorrhagic transformation. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol
2010;31:1015-1022.
2. Kassner A, Thornhill RE. Texture Analysis: a Review of Neurologic MR Imaging
Applications. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol 2010;31:809-816.
3. Thornhill RE, Prato FS, Wisenberg G, White JA, Nowell J, Sauer A. Feasibility of the
single bolus strategy for measuring the partition-coefficient of Gd-DTPA in patients
with myocardial infarction: independence of image delay time and maturity of scar.
Magn Reson Med 2006;55:780-789.
4. Thornhill RE, Prato FS, Wisenberg G. The assessment of myocardial viability: a
review of current diagnostic imaging approaches. J Cardiovasc Magn Reson
2002;4:381-410.
Page 56/59
BGC/DV/May 2013
Annual Report 2012
Medical Physics
The Ottawa Hospital
Eric Vandervoort, PhD., MCCPM
Medical Physicist, The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre
Assistant Professor, Department of Radiology, University of Ottawa
Member, Ottawa Medical Physics Institute (OMPI)
Professional Certification:
2010
Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine, member (MCCPM)
Research Interests:
My graduate research involved the development of attenuation and Compton scatter
correction methods for quantitative imaging in PET and SPECT imaging. Since starting at
The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre, my research has focused on the implementation and
commissioning of a Monte-Carlo treatment planning system for electrons. I have also used
radiochromic film to measure relative output factors for different sized apertures on
CyberKnife and, in collaboration with colleagues, compared to other detector types
(microMOSFET, radioluminescent dosimeters, diodes and microchambers). Another project
under investigation will characterize the accuracy of clinical dose calculation algorithms
under conditions of electronic disequilibrium using a plastic scintillator and film. We will
evaluate the sensitivity of the dose calculation to clinically realistic uncertainties in
treatment delivery, small changes in electron density, miscalibrations of the position and
speed of the multileaf collimators and gantry, and changes in the patient anatomy due to
tumour shrinkage, growth, and tumour movement during the respiratory cycle.
Peer-Reviewed Articles:
•
•
•
•
Groman SM, Lee B, London ED, Mandelkern MA, James AS, Feiler K, Rivera R, Dahlbom
M, Sossi V, Vandervoort E, Jentsch JD, and J. Jentsch (2011) Dorsal Striatal D2-Like
Receptor Availability Co-varies with Sensitivity to Positive Reinforcement
during Discrimination Learning, J. Neurosci., 31(20): 7291-7299.
Vandervoort E and Sossi V (2008) Impact of contamination from scattered
photons in singles-mode transmission data on quantitative small-animal PET
imaging, J. Nucl. Med., 49(11): 1852-1861.
Vandervoort E and Sossi V (2008) An analytical scatter correction for singlesmode transmission data in PET, IEEE Trans. Med. Imaging 27(3):402-412.
Vandervoort E, Camborde M-L, Jan S and Sossi V (2007) Monte-Carlo modeling of
singles-mode transmission data for small animal PET scanners, Phys. Med. Biol.
52(11): 3169-3184.
Published abstracts:
•
•
•
Vandervoort EJ, La Russa DJ, Ploquin N, Szanto, J, Henderson E, Improved
dosimetric accuracy for patient specific quality assurance using a dualdetector measurement method for CyberKnife output factors, COMP annual
meeting 2012, Halifax, NS
Vandervoort EJ, La Russa DJ and Cygler JE Clinical Implementation of a
Commercial Monte Carlo Treatment Planning System for Electron Beams, Joint
AAPM/COMP annual meeting 2011 Vancouver, Canada
Vandervoort E and Cygler JE (2010) Evaluation of a New Commercial Monte-Carlo
Treatment Planning System for Electrons, 56th Annual Meeting of the Canadian
Organization of Medical Physicists and the Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine.
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BGC/DV/May 2013
Annual Report 2012
Medical Physics
The Ottawa Hospital
R. Glenn Wells, Ph.D., FCCPM
Medical Physicist, Cardiac Imaging, University of Ottawa Heart Institute
Associate Professor, Medicine (Cardiology), University of Ottawa
Adjunct Professor, Department of Physics, Carleton University
Member, Ottawa Medical Physics Institute (OMPI)
Professional Certification:
2008
2002
Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine, fellow (FCCPM)
Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine, member (MCCPM)
Research Interests:
Tthe physics of multi-modality imaging with nuclear medicine: the combination of multislice X-ray computed tomography (CT) with single-photon emission computed tomography
(SPECT) and positron emission tomography (PET).
The research focuses on image
reconstruction, multi-isotope and dynamic imaging with application in the fields of smallanimal SPECT/CT and dedicated cardiac clinical SPECT.
Publications and Presentations:
34 peer reviewed articles, 4 book chapters, 137 presentations at national / international conferences
Selected Publications:
S.L. Thorn, R.A. deKemp, T. Dumouchel, R. Klein, J.M. Renaud, R.G.Wells, M. Gollob, R.S.
Beanlands, J.N. DaSilva, . Repeatable Non-Invasive Imaging of FDG PET in the Mouse
Myocardium: Evaluation of Tracer Kinetics in a Type 1 Diabetes Model.. [Accepted]
R.G. Wells, B Marvin, G. Kovalski, T.D. Ruddy. .Planar radionuclide angiography with a
dedicated cardiac SPECT camera.. J. Nucl. Cardiol. (2013). Epub 22 Feb 2013,
doi:10.1007/s12350-013-9674-6.
A. Pourmoghaddas, R. Klein, R.A. deKemp, R.G. Wells .Respiratory phase alignment
improves blood-flow quantification in Rb82 PET myocardial perfusion imaging.. Med. Phys.
40, 022503 (11 pages), (2013).
R.G.Wells, K. Soueidan, K. Vanderwerf, T.D. Ruddy, .Comparing slow- versus high-speed
CT for attenuation correction of cardiac SPECT perfusion studies.. J. Nucl. Cardiol. 19, 719726 (2012).
G. Dwivedi, R.G. Wells, B.J. Chow, .Cardiovascular magnetic resonance for diagnosis of
coronary artery disease: quo vadis?.. Expert Rev. Med. Devices 9, 219-224 (2012).
J. Strydhorst, F. Leenen, T.D. Ruddy, R.G.Wells, .Reproducibility of serial left ventricular
perfusion, volume, and ejection fraction measurements using multiplexed multi-pinhole
SPECT in normal rats and following myocardial infarction.. J. Nucl. Med. 52, 1285-1292
(2011).
Y. Xu, S. Hayes, I. Ali, T.D. Ruddy, R.G. Wells, D.S. Berman, G. Germano, and P.J.
Slomka, .Automatic and visual reproducibility of perfusion and function measures for
myocardial perfusion SPECT.. J. Nucl. Cardiol. 17, 1050-1057 (2010).
R.G.Wells, T.D. Ruddy, R.A.deKemp, J.N.DaSilva, and R.S. Beanlands, .Respiratory Motion
Correction using Phase-Specific Alignment of Single-Phase CT in Cardiac PET/CT .. J. Nucl.
Med. 51, 1182-1190 (2010).
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BGC/DV/May 2013
Annual Report 2012
Medical Physics
The Ottawa Hospital
David E. Wilkins, Ph.D., FCCPM
Senior Medical Physicist, The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre
Radiation Safety Officer, The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre
Adjunct Professor, Department of Physics, Carleton University
Assistant Professor, Department of Radiology, University of Ottawa
Clinical Investigator, Ottawa Health Research Institute (OHRI)
President, Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine
Profession Certification:
1999
Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine, fellow (FCCPM)
1997
Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine, member (MCCPM)
Research Interests:
Biological modeling of emerging radiation treatment strategies, altered fractionation,
tumour proliferation.
Statistical analysis of clinical and experimental data to determine meaningful parameters for
radiobiological modeling, and to explore the limitations of existing models.
Publications and Presentation:
25 peer reviewed articles, 61 published abstracts
Selected Publications:
Lourdes M. Garcia, Lee H. Gerig, G.P. Raaphorst, D. Wilkins. Junctioning longitudinally
adjacent PTVs with helical tomotherapy. Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics,
accepted May 2009.
L.M. Garcia, J. Leblanc, D. Wilkins, GP Raaphorst. Fitting the linear quadratic model to
detailed data sets for different dose ranges. Physics in Medicine and Biology 51:28132823, 2006.
Kenji Myint, Gosia Niedbala, David Wilkins, Lee Gerig. Investigating treatment dose
error due to beam attenuation by a carbon fiber tabletop. Journal of Applied Clinical
Medical Physics, accepted for publication April 2006.
M. Carlone, D. E. Wilkins, G. P. Raaphorst: Radiobiological parameters suitable for
modeling individual outcomes cannot be obtained by analyzing heterogeneous
population data with homogeneous tumour control model: In regard to D’Souza et
al. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 58: 1540-1548, 2004. Letter to the Editor, International
Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics 62: 298-299, May 2005.
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BGC/DV/May 2013