International Conference on Medical Physics August 03-05, 2015 Birmingham, UK

Biography:

Gad Shani has completed his PhD at Cornell University in 1970. He has been on the faculty of Ben Gurion University in Israel since then. He served as the head of the department of Nuclear Engineering and later as the head of the department of Biomedical Engineering. He has published more than 90 papers in referred journals and served on many university, national and international bodies.

Abstract:

Brachytherapy is generally done with photon emitting isotopes (I-125 for LDR and Ir-192 for HDR). Beta Emitters are rarely used. We have found that beta-gamma emitters have some important benefits as sources for brachytherapy. The main benefit is saving millions of Dollars in building expensive treatment rooms with remote control systems. The second benefit is that the medical personnel can stand by the patient while treatment is done, without radiation hazard. High dose to the tumor can be obtained, evenly distributed with very little radiation damage to surrounding organs\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\nExperimental work where Tm-170 HDR source (3 Ci) was used, to cure cancer on rats was carried out. It demonstrates the potential of using Tm-170 for medical brachytherapy. Tm-170 emits gamma ray of energy 84 keV and a number of x-ray in the range 50-60 keV. It also emits a large number of beta rays of E-max= 968 (80%) and E-max=883 keV (20%). An HDR source was made by sealing a thulium wire, 0.6 mm diameter 4 mm long, in titanium tubes and activated by neutrons. Experiments were done with Lewis rats, carrying tumor developed from implantation of CNS1 Rat Brain Tumor Astrocytoma cells, under the thigh skin.\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\n75% of the treated rats were completely cured, 16.7% had their tumor delayed and 8.3% were not cured. The total dose delivered to the different rats was 30-60 Sv photon dose and 2.5x10**3-5x10**3 Sv beta dose at 2 mm from the source. \\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\n

Biography:

Cecilia Arsene graduated in chemistry from the “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iasi, Romania. In 2001 she received a PhD degree (Doktors der Naturwissenchaften, Dr. rer. nat.) at the Bergischen Universität Gesamthochschule Wuppertal, Germany. Within 2005-2007 she performed postdoctoral research at the University of Crete, Greece. From February 2015 she is a professor in chemistry at the “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iasi, Romania. Her research interests include kinetics and mechanisms of different oxidation processes, investigations of various gas-to-particle conversion processes, aerosols chemical composition and chemistry. She has published more than 40 research papers in peer reviewed international journals.

Abstract:

Aerosols are air suspended mixture of solid and liquid particles varying especially in size and chemical composition. For anthropogenic source related aerosols, origin is a third factor controlling their distribution. Coarse particles (PM10) are mainly of natural origin while fine (PM2.5) and ultrafine (PM0.1) particles derive from anthropogenic sources and from photochemical induced processes. Aerosols play an important role in climate change. Nowadays the interest towards aerosols is increasing because they influence visibility, contribute to acid rain, and have high potential to affect human health. Fine and ultrafine particles, often of very complex chemical composition (i.e. sulphates, nitrates, acids, metals, carbon loaded particles), are the most susceptible to be breathed most deeply in the lungs. However, the mechanisms by which ultrafine particles penetrate through pulmonary tissue and enter capillaries are still unknown. There are reliable measurements clearly showing that World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations in terms of atmospheric aerosols levels are overwhelming for certain periods in some world’s area. In specific area most probably the high aerosol levels are probably linked to the high rate of various pulmonary diseases. However, in medical practical applications, the efficiency of aerosols and nanoparticles in prevention, care and cardio-respiratory function improvement is believed to depend on aerosols life time, abundance and shape, which should be very strictly controlled. There are reports showing that selected halides might influence the generation mechanism of saline aerosols. These findings might have potential implications in the optimization processes of particles generation by dynamic halochambers used in various medical applications.

Biography:

Nicolas Pourel has completed his degree (MD) as a Radiation Oncologist in 1999 at Nancy Science University (Faculty of Medicine) and a Diplome d’Etudes Approfondies (DEA) in Epidemiology at Nancy School of Public Health in 2001. He is the head of radiation oncology department at Institut Sainte-Catherine, particularly involved in Risk management. He is also a member of the board of Societe Francaise de Radiotherapie Oncologique (SFRO) and the Association de Formation Continue en Oncologie Radiotherapique (AFCOR). He is a teacher for ESTRO school on Comprehensive Quality Management in Radiotherapy and also for the IAEA on the same topic.

Abstract:

Patient information duties are a basic task of Radiation Oncologists in their daily practice. This workshop will illustrate all the aspects of legal obligations taking the context of French Law as an example : the basic principles of the Law, who has to bring evidence of information and through which support in case of litigation, who is supposed to inform the patient, the principles of the individual interview between him/her and his/her physician, the documents that ought to be given to illustrate the practical aspects of treatment and its side effects, the value of written informed consent and when it is mandatory (clinical trial) are to be illustrated here. \r\nWe will try to focus particularly on how the first consultation of the patient (aka, ‘announcement consultation’) ought to be structured, knowing that, in most cases, most of the information is to be given orally but the key messages of that interview have to be simple, understandable and loyal, especially concerning the acute side effects and late sequellae of radiotherapy.\r\nA special emphasis will also be put on information documents that are to be given to the patient (basically, personalized treatment plan, disease specific and/or treatment-specific brochures, and, in some cases, a formal written consent form), especially in order to give a fair, comprehensive and clear information on the benefits and the risk of radiotherapy that has to be delivered.\r\n

Biography:

Geoffrey Mitchell completed his PhD in Materials Physics working at Cambridge. He undertook postdoctoral studies at Hokkaido University and subsequently moved to the University of Reading UK where he eventually became Professor of Polymer Physics. He is currently Vice-Director of the Centre for Rapid and Sustainable Product Development, a leader in the development of Direct Digital Manufacturing especially in the application of such technology to medicine. He has published more than 300 papers in reputed journals and 4 books.

Abstract:

Direct Digital Manufacturing is a set of technologies which are set to revoluntinze manufacturing. Direct Digital Manufacturing is able to directly produce an object from a digital definition without the use of moulds or other specific tooling. As such it is particularly suited to objects or process which require mass customisation. This is clearly has huge potential in the field of medicine and healthcare for which personalisation is a critical requirement for many devices. Direct Digital Manufacturing involve additive manufacturing procedures which include 3d printing, stereolithography and selective laser melting. We review these technologies with regard to their potential for medical applications and we consider the changing landscape of direct digital manufacturing as it develops the capacity for functionally graded materials, functional materials and the move from design by form to design by function. We illustrate the possibilities using current projects from the broad based portfolio of work on direct digital manufacturing currently underway at CDRSP. A major use of direct digital manufacturing is the generation of scaffolds for tissue engineering. However, the scope for medical applications of direct digital manufacturing is much wider than that and we speculate on the future trends.