PI
Specialization
Image guided adaptive radiotherapy, radiation treatment planning
Focus of research
- Research on image guided adaptive radiotherapy (IGART) is combined with advanced radiation treatment planning. Applications of these new treatment techniques are focussing on mobile tumours (e.g. pancreas, stomache, oesophagus and bladder). For the upper abdomen breathing control strategies are being explored to "freeze" the tumor and the organs in a fixed position.
- Main research topics for brachytherapy include: clinical implementation of novel AI-driven dose optimization methods. This is being combined with a novel research line to save the bowlel by quantifying bowel motility during treatment with MRI.
- Hyperthermia shows some exciting new developments: improved treatment planning and new techniques enabling treatment of new indications. Combined optimization of treatment planning of hyperthermia and radiotherapy is explored; this line includes both fundamental biological research and implementation of mathematical biological models in software.
- Our group participates in the Holland proton therapy center. During the coming years we will design image guided proton irradiation techniques for mobile tumors, a presently unexlored area. The potential benefit of either proton or photon therapy will be explored by means of mathematical biological models, a new application for the models as being developed in our other research lines.