Handbook Of Image Guided Brachytherapy

This handbook provides a clinically relevant, succinct, and comprehensive overview of image-guided brachytherapy. Throughout the last decade, the utility of image guidance in brachytherapy has increased to enhance procedural development, treatment planning, and radiation delivery in an effort to optimize safety and clinical outcomes. Organized into two parts, the book discusses physics and radiobiology principles of brachytherapy as well as clinical applications of image-guided brachytherapy for various disease sites (central nervous system, eye, head and neck, breast, lung, gastrointestinal, genitourinary, gynecologic, sarcoma, and skin). It also describes the incorporation of imaging techniques such as CT, MRI, and ultrasound into brachytherapy procedures and planning. Featuring procedural and anesthesia care, extensive images, contouring examples, treatment planning techniques, and dosimetry for the comprehensive treatment for each disease site, Handbook of Image-Guided Brachytherapy is a valuable resource for practicing radiation oncologists, physicists, dosimetrists, residents, and medical students.

This book provides a comprehensive insight into this special form of image-guided interventional therapy and its indications. It begins by introducing the fundamental principles of radiotherapy, the most up-to-date guidelines and the interdisciplinary aspects of the technique and then expands to more practical aspects such as therapy planning, indications and the use of the technique for certain tumor types, including liver metastases, rare tumors, cerebral malignancies and prostate tumors. Written and edited by pioneers in this technique, the chapter's outline results and numerous illustrated case studies from the daily routine of daily clinical practice providing an insightful guidance to this relatively new but growing method. This is an indispensable guide for oncologists, radiation therapists and radiologists, but also general practitioners and all other specialties, which have an oncological focus.

This book provides a comprehensive insight into this special form of image-guided interventional therapy and its indications. It begins by introducing the fundamental principles of radiotherapy, the most up-to-date guidelines and the interdisciplinary aspects of the technique and then expands to more practical aspects such as therapy planning, indications and the use of the technique for certain tumor types, including liver metastases, rare tumors, cerebral malignancies and prostate tumors. Written and edited by pioneers in this technique, the chapter’s outline results and numerous illustrated case studies from the daily routine of daily clinical practice providing an insightful guidance to this relatively new but growing method. This is an indispensable guide for oncologists, radiation therapists and radiologists, but also general practitioners and all other specialties, which have an oncological focus.

This book provides detailed, state-of-the-art information and guidelines on the latest developments, innovations, and clinical procedures in image-guided and adaptive radiation therapy. The first section discusses key methodological and technological issues in image-guided and adaptive radiation therapy, including use of implanted fiducial markers, management of respiratory motion, image-guided stereotactic radiosurgery and stereotactic body radiation therapy, three-dimensional conformal brachytherapy, target definition and localization, and PET/CT and biologically conformal radiation therapy. The second section provides practical clinical information on image-guided adaptive radiation therapy for cancers at all common anatomic sites and for pediatric cancers. The third section offers practical guidelines for establishing an effective image-guided adaptive radiation therapy program.

This book is a practical guide to the use of modern radiation therapy techniques in women with gynecological cancers. Step-by-step instruction is provided on simulation, contouring, and treatment planning and delivery for cancers of the cervix, endometrium, vagina, and vulva. Beyond external beam radiation delivery, full details are presented on three-dimensional brachytherapy at all sites for which it is applicable. Moreover, in-depth guidance is offered on the various advanced techniques of radiation delivery, including intensity-modulated radiation therapy, image guidance for external beam and brachytherapy, and stereotactic body radiotherapy. Radiation therapy is a critical component of the multidisciplinary management of gynecological tumors. With modern technology, both external beam radiation and brachytherapy can be delivered in a highly conformal way. This requires precise contouring and accurate planning techniques. In clearly describing the indications for and the delivery of quality radiation therapy for gynecological tumors, this book will benefit radiation oncologists, medical physicists, medical dosimetrists, radiation therapists, and radiotherapy residents.

Written by the foremost experts in the field, this volume is a comprehensive text and practical reference on contemporary brachytherapy. The book provides detailed, site-specific information on applications and techniques of brachytherapy in the head and neck, central nervous system, breast, thorax, gastrointestinal tract, and genitourinary tract, as well as on gynecologic brachytherapy, low dose rate and high dose rate sarcoma brachytherapy, vascular brachytherapy, and pediatric applications. The book thoroughly describes and compares the four major techniques used in brachytherapy—intracavity, interstitial, surface-dose or mold therapy, and transluminal. Chapters detail particular techniques that are appropriate in specific clinical situations.

From the essential background physics and radiobiology to the latest imaging and treatment modalities, the updated second edition of Handbook of Radiotherapy Physics: Theory & Practice covers all aspects of the subject. In Volume 1, Part A includes the Interaction of Radiation with Matter (charged particles and photons) and the Fundamentals of Dosimetry with an extensive section on small-field physics. Part B covers Radiobiology with increased emphasis on hypofractionation. Part C describes Equipment for Imaging and Therapy including MR-guided linear accelerators. Part D on Dose Measurement includes chapters on ionisation chambers, solid-state detectors, film and gels, as well as a detailed description and explanation of Codes of Practice for Reference Dose Determination including detector correction factors in small fields. Part E describes the properties of Clinical (external) Beams. The various methods (or ‘algorithms’) for Computing Doses in Patients irradiated by photon, electron and proton beams are described in Part F with increased emphasis on Monte-Carlo-based and grid-based deterministic algorithms. In Volume 2, Part G covers all aspects of Treatment Planning including CT-, MR- and Radionuclide-based patient imaging, Intensity-Modulated Photon Beams, Electron and Proton Beams, Stereotactic and Total Body Irradiation and the use of the dosimetric and radiobiological metrics TCP and NTCP for plan evaluation and optimisation. Quality Assurance fundamentals with application to equipment and processes are covered in Part H. Radionuclides, equipment and methods for Brachytherapy and Targeted Molecular Therapy are covered in Parts I and J, respectively. Finally, Part K is devoted to Radiation Protection of the public, staff and patients. Extensive tables of Physical Constants, Photon, Electron and Proton Interaction data, and typical Photon Beam and Radionuclide data are given in Part L. Edited by recognised authorities in the field, with individual chapters written by renowned specialists, this second edition of Handbook of Radiotherapy Physics provides the essential up-to-date theoretical and practical knowledge to deliver safe and effective radiotherapy. It will be of interest to clinical and research medical physicists, radiation oncologists, radiation technologists, PhD and Master’s students.