Radiotherapy is a therapeutic modality that uses ionizing radiation to cause biological damage. High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) is a therapeu

放射治疗是一种利用电离辐射造成生物损伤的治疗方式。

• 批准号: 1957524
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University College London
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2017 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-1957524
• 关键词: Radiotherapy; therapeutic; modality; uses; ionizing

1) Brief description of the context of the research including potential impact Radiotherapy is a therapeutic modality that uses ionizing radiation to cause biological damage. High Intensity Focused Ultrasound is a therapeutic modality that uses ultrasound to induce heat to cause biological damage. These two modalities have complementary qualities. Radiotherapy can cover large volumes and deliver treatment quickly, but it cannot be intensely focused in a region without irradiating healthy tissues. HIFU treats smaller volumes, typically of the size of a grain of rice, with little to no harm to the normal tissues. The combination of both modalities allows one to supplement the other. HIFU can be used to focus on radioresitant regions while radiotherapy is used to cover surrounding volumes which require less radiological dose. This development will require the ability to perform dosimetry and Quality Assurance measurements. Tissue mimicking materials are non-human materials that are manufactured to resemble some aspects of human's tissues properties. A single material is unlikely to perfectly match all physical properties, but it would match a range of them under certain conditions. Phantoms are tissue surrogates used in a variety of metrologic assessments. The result of this research will also be useable for both modalities independently which is of interest for ultrasound modalities, since there are less standardized procedures compared to radiological modalities.2) Aims and Objectives Identify materials that are suited for both radiotherapeutic and ultrasonic exposures. These materials must be long lasting and/or easily reproducible. It is preferable if these materials are easy to handle, safe and cheap. It would be ideal if these materials had properties identical to those of human tissues. As measurements done in them would directly translate into a clinical context. Characterize those materials in terms of their physical properties as well as their usability for the manufacturing processes and shelf life. Identify methods that can be used to characterize and parametrize exposures for metrology that are compatible with the materials and other machinery that is involved in exposures and diagnostics, such as MR imaging. Design and develop a phantom that allows to perform QA or dosimetry measurements 3) Novelty of Research Methodology Firstly, the development of phantoms and TMMs in both modalities has been carried out independently. While hydrogels have been used in radiotherapy, they were intended to have their density changed by the exposure as a measure of dose, which would make them unusable for ultrasonic propagation. Secondly, the study of the effects of irradiation of gels has typically been focused around its use in the gelation process and mechanical properties while not much attention has been paid to acoustic properties and their stability after irradiation. In the case of ultrasound exposures, the evaluation of the therapy is typically the examination of the patient after or during treatment rather than a priori assessments.4) Alignment to EPSRC's strategies and research areas. This project represents a combination of two areas of expertise that are similar but have not commonly intersected that have a shared goal. The field of combined Radiotherapy and HIFU is a growing one, as more research shines a light on the benefits of such treatments. This is also a project that focuses strongly in manufacturing and the creation of a product that will positively impact the standard of care that medical industries can provide. 5) Any companies or collaborators involved This project is being carried out in a collaboration between the University College London, the Institute of Cancer Research and the National Physical Laboratory.

1)研究背景的简要说明，包括潜在影响放射治疗是一种利用电离辐射造成生物损害的治疗方式。高强度聚焦超声是一种利用超声波诱导热量造成生物损伤的治疗方法。这两种模式具有互补性。放射治疗可以覆盖大体积并迅速提供治疗，但如果不照射健康组织，它就不能集中在一个区域。HIFU治疗的体积较小，通常是一粒大米大小，对正常组织几乎没有损害。这两种模式的结合允许一种模式与另一种模式互补。HIFU可用于聚焦于辐射抵抗区域，而放射治疗用于覆盖周围体积，而周围体积需要较少的辐射剂量。这一发展需要具备执行剂量测量和质量保证测量的能力。组织模拟材料是一种非人类材料，它的制造是为了模拟人体组织特性的某些方面。一种材料不太可能完美地匹配所有的物理特性，但在某些条件下，它会匹配它们的一系列。模体是各种计量学评估中使用的组织替代物。这项研究的结果也将单独用于这两种模式，这对超声模式是有意义的，因为与放射模式相比，标准化程序较少。2)目的和目标确定既适合放射治疗又适合超声暴露的材料。这些材料必须经久耐用和/或易于复制。如果这些材料易于操作、安全和廉价，那就更好了。如果这些材料具有与人体组织相同的特性，那将是最理想的。因为在其中所做的测量将直接转化为临床背景。根据这些材料的物理性质以及它们在制造过程和保质期中的可用性来表征这些材料。确定可用于表征和参数化曝光以进行计量的方法，这些方法与曝光和诊断所涉及的材料和其他机械兼容，例如磁共振成像。设计和开发一种可以进行质量保证或剂量测量的体模3)研究方法的新颖性首先，体模和TMM的开发是独立进行的。虽然水凝胶已被用于放射治疗，但它们的密度会因暴露而改变，作为剂量的衡量标准，这将使它们无法用于超声波传播。其次，对凝胶辐照效应的研究主要集中在凝胶的成胶过程和力学性能上，而对凝胶的声学性能及其辐照后的稳定性的研究较少。在超声照射的情况下，对治疗的评估通常是在治疗后或治疗期间对患者的检查，而不是先验评估。4)与EPSRC的战略和研究领域保持一致。这个项目代表了两个领域的专业知识的结合，这两个领域相似，但没有共同的交叉，有着共同的目标。随着越来越多的研究揭示了联合放射治疗和HIFU的益处，联合放射治疗和HIFU的领域正在不断扩大。这也是一个非常专注于制造和创造一种产品的项目，该产品将对医疗行业能够提供的护理标准产生积极影响。5)参与该项目的任何公司或合作者都是在伦敦大学学院、癌症研究所和国家物理实验室的合作下进行的。