On the 6th of January, we hosted Jacinta Yap from the School of Physics, University of Melbourne, who delivered a presentation on proton beam therapy physics.
We thank Jecinta for providing her fantastic work.
Bio: Jacinta is a Research Fellow in the Medical Accelerator Physics group at the University of Melbourne. Her work combines accelerator and medical physics concepts to better understand and improve the delivery of particle therapy. This includes the development of novel beam transport and delivery systems using computational tools and experimental approaches. Jacinta has a BSc from The University of Western Australia and an MSc (MedRadPhys with Dist.) from the Centre for Medical Radiation Physics (CMRP), University of Wollongong.
Her thesis was a study of the Relative Biological Effectiveness (RBE) in proton beam therapy by application of a novel silicon microdosimeter. Following this, Jacinta was awarded a prestigious EU Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowship to join the Optimization of Medical Accelerators (OMA) project, undertaking a PhD at the Cockcroft Institute, UK with the QUASAR group, University of Liverpool. Her project involved studies into beam optics, characterisation and simulation modelling to support the development of novel beam diagnostics for particle therapy.
Abstract: Recent advancements in accelerator technology and increasing experience with utilising charged particle beams for medical applications have supported the growing presence of ion beam therapy worldwide. Accelerators, beam transport and delivery systems are designed to optimally and safely deliver the beam according to the prescribed treatment. This is maintained by beam instrumentation devices however limitations are seen with conventional tools. Advanced diagnostics are needed to fully exploit fundamental benefits, for enhanced functionality and to accommodate new developments in particle therapy. Several computational tools were developed to assess the viability and to integrate a novel online beam monitor based on LHCb VELO detector technology, at the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, UK, a 60 MeV ocular proton therapy beamline. A study of the beam dynamics enabled end-to-end modelling to precisely model the propagation and behaviour of the beam, for the complete characterisation of the facility. Measurements were also performed using EBT3 film, a Medipix3 and MiniPIX-Timepix detector to experimentally verify the model for further applications. These studies combine several aspects to characterise, optimise and generate realistic simulation models for the development and integration of novel diagnostics systems.
The presentation was recorded and Jecinta has kindly given permission for the recording.
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