Research and development of real-time imaging technology for accurate irradiation of moving cancer in the body

Radiation therapy of tumors that move with respiration requires a beam irradiation control technique based on accurate estimation of not only the tumor’s position but also the situation concerning surrounding organs. Today, the technology to use fiducial markers to monitor the position of a tumor has been established, but we are not yet close to real-time capturing of volume data regarding tumors and surrounding organs; a significant change in body thickness or other factors may result in dosing errors.
Our laboratory focuses on the real-time synthesis of volume images of tumors and surrounding organs by modeling tumor deformations based on information obtained from fiducial markers and the body surface during treatment planning. This research is expected to allow even more accurate irradiation of tumors that move with respiration.