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Healthcare ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 153
Author(s):  
Francesco Di Basilio ◽  
Gianluca Esposisto ◽  
Lisa Monoscalco ◽  
Daniele Giansanti

Background. The study deals with the introduction of the artificial intelligence in digital radiology. There is a growing interest in this area of scientific research in acceptance and consensus studies involving both insiders and the public, based on surveys focused mainly on single professionals. Purpose. The goal of the study is to perform a contemporary investigation on the acceptance and the consensus of the three key professional figures approaching in this field of application: (1) Medical specialists in image diagnostics: the medical specialists (MS)s; (2) experts in physical imaging processes: the medical physicists (MP)s; (3) AI designers: specialists of applied sciences (SAS)s. Methods. Participants (MSs = 92: 48 males/44 females, averaged age 37.9; MPs = 91: 43 males/48 females, averaged age 36.1; SAS = 90: 47 males/43 females, averaged age 37.3) were properly recruited based on specific training. An electronic survey was designed and submitted to the participants with a wide range questions starting from the training and background up to the different applications of the AI and the environment of application. Results. The results show that generally, the three professionals show (a) a high degree of encouraging agreement on the introduction of AI both in imaging and in non-imaging applications using both standalone applications and/or mHealth/eHealth, and (b) a different consent on AI use depending on the training background. Conclusions. The study highlights the usefulness of focusing on both the three key professionals and the usefulness of the investigation schemes facing a wide range of issues. The study also suggests the importance of different methods of administration to improve the adhesion and the need to continue these investigations both with federated and specific initiatives.


2021 ◽  
Vol 32 (01) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ting Hu ◽  
Lizhang Xie ◽  
Lei Zhang ◽  
Guangjun Li ◽  
Zhang Yi

Patient-specific quality assurance (QA) for Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT) plans is routinely performed in the clinical. However, it is labor-intensive and time-consuming for medical physicists. QA prediction models can address these shortcomings and improve efficiency. Current approaches mainly focus on single cancer and single modality data. They are not applicable to clinical practice. To assess the accuracy of QA results for VMAT plans, this paper presents a new model that learns complementary features from the multi-modal data to predict the gamma passing rate (GPR). According to the characteristics of VMAT plans, a feature-data fusion approach is designed to fuse the features of imaging and non-imaging information in the model. In this study, 690 VMAT plans are collected encompassing more than ten diseases. The model can accurately predict the most VMAT plans at all three gamma criteria: 2%/2 mm, 3%/2 mm and 3%/3 mm. The mean absolute error between the predicted and measured GPR is 2.17%, 1.16% and 0.71%, respectively. The maximum deviation between the predicted and measured GPR is 3.46%, 4.6%, 8.56%, respectively. The proposed model is effective, and the features of the two modalities significantly influence QA results.


Radiation ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 305-316
Author(s):  
Sébastien Penninckx ◽  
Félicien Hespeels ◽  
Julien Smeets ◽  
Julien L. Colaux ◽  
Stéphane Lucas ◽  
...  

In clinical practice, dose delivery in proton therapy treatment is affected by uncertainties related to the range of the beam in the patient, which requires medical physicists to introduce safety margins on the penetration depth of the beam. Although this ensures an irradiation of the entire clinical target volume with the prescribed dose, these safety margins also lead to the exposure of nearby healthy tissues and a subsequent risk of side effects. Therefore, non-invasive techniques that allow for margin reduction through online monitoring of prompt gammas emitted along the proton tracks in the patient are currently under development. This study provides the proof-of-concept of metal-based nanoparticles, injected into the tumor, as a prompt gamma enhancer, helping in the beam range verification. It identifies the limitations of this application, suggesting a low feasibility in a realistic clinical scenario but opens some avenues for improvement.


2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 26-29
Author(s):  
A. P. Lushchikova ◽  
A. I. Chemshit

At the beginning of the 20th century, the whole world was searching for radioactive substances application, in particular radium. Radium can be used to treat oncology, but no one knew the verge of overdosing and underdosing. The founder of radiobiology can be considered Lewis Gray, who introduced unit for absorbed dose of radiation [1]. It was Edith Quimby who started looking for that therapeutically effective absorbed dose. It’s to calculate the minimum effective dose of activity for each patient. She has written 75 articles, published books that have become used concepts in biophysics, and handbooks of modern editions of radiologists. She became the first woman and the first physicist to become president of the American Radium Society, an organization dedicated to the study and treatment of cancer. At one time, Arthur Compton spoke about the need to introduce and apply physics in medicine, and Quimby, in her acceptance speech, outlined the need for an organization of medical physicists, and in 1958, owing to her, the American Society of Medical Physicists was created. Edith Quimby was and remains an iconic figure in the history of the development of medical physics.


2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shahbaz Ahmed ◽  
Todd Bossenberger ◽  
Adrian Nalichowski ◽  
Jeremy S. Bredfeldt ◽  
Sarah Bartlett ◽  
...  

Abstract Background We aim to assess the risks associated with total body irradiation (TBI) delivered using a commercial dedicated Co-60 irradiator, and to evaluate inter-institutional and inter-professional variations in the estimation of these risks. Methods A failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) was generated using guidance from the AAPM TG-100 report for quantitative estimation of prospective risk metrics. Thirteen radiation oncology professionals from two institutions rated possible failure modes (FMs) for occurrence (O), severity (S), and detectability (D) indices to generate a risk priority number (RPN). The FMs were ranked by descending RPN value. Absolute gross differences (AGD) in resulting RPN values and Jaccard Index (JI; for the top 20 FMs) were calculated. The results were compared between professions and institutions. Results A total of 87 potential FMs (57, 15, 10, 3, and 2 for treatment, quality assurance, planning, simulation, and logistics respectively) were identified and ranked, with individual RPN ranging between 1–420 and mean RPN values ranging between 6 and 74. The two institutions shared 6 of their respective top 20 FMs. For various institutional and professional comparison pairs, the number of common FMs in the top 20 FMs ranged from 6 to 13, with JI values of 18–48%. For the top 20 FMs, the trend in inter-professional variability was institution-specific. The mean AGD values ranged between 12.5 and 74.5 for various comparison pairs. AGD values differed the most for medical physicists (MPs) in comparison to other specialties i.e. radiation oncologists (ROs) and radiation therapists (RTs) [MPs-vs-ROs: 36.3 (standard deviation SD = 34.1); MPs-vs-RTs: 41.2 (SD = 37.9); ROs-vs-RTs: 12.5 (SD = 10.8)]. Trends in inter-professional AGD values were similar for both institutions. Conclusion This inter-institutional comparison provides prospective risk analysis for a new treatment delivery unit and illustrates the institution-specific nature of FM prioritization, primarily due to operational differences. Despite being subjective in nature, the FMEA is a valuable tool to ensure the identification of the most significant risks, particularly when implementing a novel treatment modality. The creation of a bi-institutional, multidisciplinary FMEA for this unique TBI technique has not only helped identify potential risks but also served as an opportunity to evaluate clinical and safety practices from the perspective of both multiple professional roles and different institutions.


Author(s):  
Todd F. Atwood ◽  
Derek W. Brown ◽  
Alexander S. Pasciak ◽  
Ehsan Samei ◽  
Mahadevappa Mahesh ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 91 (3) ◽  
pp. 67-81
Author(s):  
B. Ya. Narkevich ◽  
S. A. Ryzhov ◽  
T. G. Ratner ◽  
A. N. Moiseev

Based on the analysis of numerous literary sources and the authors' many years of their own experience in medical physics and medical radiology, a dictionary of abbreviations (abbreviations) that are most often used in scientific publications, guidelines, regulatory documents in these areas of high-tech medicine has been developed. The dictionary contains abbreviations in English, which are usually not deciphered in English-language publications, as well as abbreviations in Russian with the corresponding English abbreviations, if only they are available in scientific and educational literature. The dictionary is intended both for use in professional education, including postgraduate education, and for medical physicists, radiation diagnosticians and radiation oncologists working in radiological medical organizations.


2021 ◽  
Vol 91 (3) ◽  
pp. 102-113
Author(s):  
M. P. Shatenok ◽  
A. N. Moiseev ◽  
K. V. Tolkachev ◽  
S. A. Ryghov ◽  
Yu. V. Drughinina ◽  
...  

The CDT guidelines on external dosimetry audit of linear accelerators x-ray beams absolute calibration is described. The guidelines specify audits organization, conduction and results analysis for 4-20 MeV photon beams, including measurement methodology, equipment and staff specification. The guidelines are designed for medical physicists, dosimetrists and management of external beam radiotherapy departments.


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