Translational image-guided RadioTherapy
Group leader: Prof. Dr. Oliver Jäkel (in ch.)
Summary
(a) Standard diagnostic setup: the patient lies on a foam mattress and the coil is located directly on the patient’s body. (b) Radiotherapy treatment setup: the patient lies on a flat table overlay, a leg and hip immobilisation device and a coil holder are used.
© dkfz.de
In our group we focus on investigating the potential of using multimodal (MRI, CT and PET) images for radiotherapy treatment planning of cancer patients, with a focus on prostate cancer. This is a field of study with many branches, such as adaptive treatment planning, dosimetry, MR optimization, CT optimization, pseudo CT development, attenuation correction and the use of anthropomorphic phantoms. In our group we focus on both the technical aspects of image-guided radiotherapy and establishing patient-oriented workflows.
These projects are part of a joint National-Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT)-funded Proof-of-Concept clinical study with the aim to integrate PET/MRI-data into radiotherapy treatment planning for patients with prostate cancer. As a part of this study, patient trials will be carried out in both Heidelberg and Dresden.
Current research topics
- MR sequence optimization for Radiotherapy
- Stopping power prediction for Ion Beam Therapy
- CT-based PET attenuation correction
- Phantom development and testing
- Treatment planning and outcome modeling
- Adaptive image-guided radiotherapy end-to-end testing
Recent publications
- Taeubert L, Berker Y, Beuthien-Baumann B, Hoffmann AL, Troost EGC, Kachelriess M, Gillmann C. CT-based attenuation correction of whole-body radiotherapy treatment positioning devices in PET/MRI hybrid imaging. Phys Med Biol. 2020 Sep.
- Gillmann C*, Homolka N*, Johnen W, Runz A, Echner G, Pfaffenberger A, Mann P, Schneider V, Hoffmann AL, Troost EGC, Koerber SA, Kotzerke J, Beuthien-Baumann B. Technical Note: ADAM PETer - An anthropomorphic, deformable and multimodality pelvis phantom with positron emission tomography extension for radiotherapy. Med Phys. 2020 Nov. *These authors contributed equally to this work.
- Ellmann S, Seyler L, Gillmann C, Popp V, Treutlein C, Bozec A, Uder M, Bäuerle T. Machine Learning Algorithms for Early Detection of Bone Metastases in an Experimental Rat Model. J Vis Exp. 2020 Aug.
- Gillmann C, Jäkel O, Karger CP. RBE-weighted doses in target volumes of chordoma and chondrosarcoma patients treated with carbon ion radiotherapy: Comparison of local effect models I and IV. Radiother Oncol. 2019 Dec.
- Gillmann C, Lomax AJ, Weber DC, Jäkel O, Karger CP. Dose-response curves for MRI-detected radiation-induced temporal lobe reactions in patients after proton and carbon ion therapy: Does the same RBE-weighted dose lead to the same biological effect?. Radiother Oncol. 2018 Jul.
Contact
Group picture (July 2020)
We are always looking for motivated students interested in applied medical physics to join our group. Please get in touch if you are interested! Our department also regularly offers projects within the DKFZ International PhD Program.
People:
Leticia Täubert (Research assistant)
Mohsin Raza (Master's student)
Yeong-Chul Yun (Master's student)
Dr. Clarissa Gillmann (Post-Doc)
Last updated: February 2021