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The social web: A new communication medium and scientific evaluation tool
Abstracts / Physica Medica 32 (2016) 184–187
The most frequent malignancies treated were CNS tumours (145) and sarcomas (107). Very precise radiation volumes can be achieved e.g. in retroperitoneal malignancies, cranio-spinal axes, ENT and CNS tumours. Sparing of OAR, such as brain stem, hippocampus, pituitary gland, cochlea, chiasma, lacrimal and salivary glands is very important to reduce late side-effects and preserve quality of life. A main challenge of proton therapy remains the prolonged time for treatment planning. Metal or breathing movements in the irradiated volume pose additional challenges and sometimes develop into a pitfall during treatment planning. Similar problems occur, if density changes happen (e.g. growing or shrinking of cysts in the PTV, air inclusions). An adhoc adaption of the treatment plan is not simply arranged, but takes time. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejmp.2016.07.314
THE FUTURE ROLE OF PARTICLE BEAMS IN THE TREATMENT OF PEDIATRIC TUMOURS, BY A MEDICAL PHYSICS POINT OF VIEW A. Bolsi, T. Lomax, D.C. Weber. Centre for Proton Therapy, Paul Scherrer Institute (CH), Switzerland Proton therapy, as compared to standard photon radiotherapy, presents the advantage of sparing non-target tissue. This is especially important for treatments of paediatric patients, where the reduction of integral dose and dose to organs at risk can significantly improve children’s quality of life, while reducing the risk for late toxicity, not limited but including secondary malignancies. Cranio-spinal irradiation with protons represents a good example of reduced integral dose, as the dose to all anatomical structures anterior to the spinal cord (such as kidneys, heart, liver) are reduced when compared to photon treatments. Those advantages are increased by the use of proton beam scanning technique (PBS) as compared with passive scattering, due to more accurate proximal dose conformity and to the use of Intensity Modulated Proton therapy (IMPT) for OARs sparing in vicinity of the target. From medical physic’s perspective, the efforts are focused in further exploiting those advantages in different areas, such as: (i) evaluation of optimal fields’ number, as a compromise between dose conformality and plan robustness; (ii) plan evaluation considering radiobiological effects (i.e. LET) (iii) dose sparing for sensitive functional structures; (iv) reduction and optimisation of PTV margins; (v) improvement in image guidance for positioning, in order both to reduce dose and to increase positioning accuracy. This could be obtained by extensive use of MRI for daily positioning (no extra dose, high soft tissue contrast). Paediatrics proton treatments already present several advantages if compared to standard photon treatments; the medical physics role is to exploit them even further. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejmp.2016.07.315
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Methods. The presentation describes the methods used for development of e-learning materials; the paradigm and the process of practical use; the testing and assessment of e-learning. Statistics from the use of these materials and their web sites will be used to support the findings. Results. The results include the implementation of c.250 elearning practical tasks. The paradigm plus quick dissemination was found essential for their success. Similarly, the flexibility built into the e-learning materials, allowed potential modification and easy implementation. The uncomplicated e-platform led to increased longevity of the materials, also allowing updates. The international implementation of the e-learning materials (c.70 countries) was supported by the introduction of Multilingual Dictionary of Medical Physics Terms. The greatest challenge was associated with the constantly changing e-learning software format, this being the main reason for the short life of most e-learning materials. Interactive teaching materials are specially affected by this issue. Conclusion. The presentation underlines the need of e-learning in medical physics and shows the link between its application and the growth of medical physicists globally. e-Learning is presented as essential for education/training, especially when it is blended with classical learning. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejmp.2016.07.316
THE SOCIAL WEB: A NEW COMMUNICATION MEDIUM AND SCIENTIFIC EVALUATION TOOL Gaspar Sánchez Merino. Araba University Hospital, Spain The term Web 2.0 describes World Wide Web sites that emphasize user-generated content, usability, and interoperability. It was popularized by Tim O’Reilly and Dale Dougherty at the O’Reilly Media Web 2.0 Conference in late 2004, though it was coined by Darcy DiNucci in 1999. An important part of Web 2.0 is the Social web, consisting of a number of online tools and platforms where people share their perspectives, opinions, thoughts and experiences. Nowadays, the Social Web is highly accepted in the general population, and it can be regarded as an imperative communication tool; yet scientific community remains reluctant to exploit its potential. A recent study showed that the adoption of the social Web by 1517 highly cited scientist is very low, being LinkedIn the most popular. In a survey conducted by Nature in 2014 with 3509 respondents, more than 88% of scientists and engineers said that they were aware of Google+ and Twitter with little difference between countries, but still only 15% visited those sites regularly. In this work, we present the main Web 2.0 tools in the context of communication medical physics and scientific research. Furthermore, we analyze its potential value as a scientific evaluation tool by introducing the concept of altmetrics. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejmp.2016.07.317
SUCCESSES AND CHALLENGES OF E-LEARNING PRACTICAL INTRODUCTION IN MEDICAL PHYSICS EDUCATION AND TRAINING Slavik Tabakov. King’s College London, UK; International Organization for Medical Physics, UK Introduction. The presentation is based on over 15 years everyday use of e-learning in the teaching process. It incorporates the findings of several feedback collections and assessments (by students and teachers). Purpose. The successes of practical introduction of e-learning in medical physics, as well as the challenges faced in this process, will be useful to a wide audience of educators.
TRUTH OR DARE: ACHIEVING LOWER RADIATION DOSES IN CT Euthimios M. Agadakos. Panhellenic Society of Radiological Technologists, General Hospital of Athens LAIKO, Greece The continuous evolution of computed tomography (CT) technology has allowed for wider clinical CT utilization. However the increased radiation doses associated with CT have raised concerns about the risk of carcinogenesis among Radiation Protection Authorities, health professionals and patients. Although the benefit of a justified CT examination by and large outweighs the risk, optimization of the procedure is essential to further this risk. Moreover CT
The most frequent malignancies treated were CNS tumours (145) and sarcomas (107). Very precise radiation volumes can be achieved e.g. in retroperitoneal malignancies, cranio-spinal axes, ENT and CNS tumours. Sparing of OAR, such as brain stem, hippocampus, pituitary gland, cochlea, chiasma, lacrimal and salivary glands is very important to reduce late side-effects and preserve quality of life. A main challenge of proton therapy remains the prolonged time for treatment planning. Metal or breathing movements in the irradiated volume pose additional challenges and sometimes develop into a pitfall during treatment planning. Similar problems occur, if density changes happen (e.g. growing or shrinking of cysts in the PTV, air inclusions). An adhoc adaption of the treatment plan is not simply arranged, but takes time. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejmp.2016.07.314
THE FUTURE ROLE OF PARTICLE BEAMS IN THE TREATMENT OF PEDIATRIC TUMOURS, BY A MEDICAL PHYSICS POINT OF VIEW A. Bolsi, T. Lomax, D.C. Weber. Centre for Proton Therapy, Paul Scherrer Institute (CH), Switzerland Proton therapy, as compared to standard photon radiotherapy, presents the advantage of sparing non-target tissue. This is especially important for treatments of paediatric patients, where the reduction of integral dose and dose to organs at risk can significantly improve children’s quality of life, while reducing the risk for late toxicity, not limited but including secondary malignancies. Cranio-spinal irradiation with protons represents a good example of reduced integral dose, as the dose to all anatomical structures anterior to the spinal cord (such as kidneys, heart, liver) are reduced when compared to photon treatments. Those advantages are increased by the use of proton beam scanning technique (PBS) as compared with passive scattering, due to more accurate proximal dose conformity and to the use of Intensity Modulated Proton therapy (IMPT) for OARs sparing in vicinity of the target. From medical physic’s perspective, the efforts are focused in further exploiting those advantages in different areas, such as: (i) evaluation of optimal fields’ number, as a compromise between dose conformality and plan robustness; (ii) plan evaluation considering radiobiological effects (i.e. LET) (iii) dose sparing for sensitive functional structures; (iv) reduction and optimisation of PTV margins; (v) improvement in image guidance for positioning, in order both to reduce dose and to increase positioning accuracy. This could be obtained by extensive use of MRI for daily positioning (no extra dose, high soft tissue contrast). Paediatrics proton treatments already present several advantages if compared to standard photon treatments; the medical physics role is to exploit them even further. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejmp.2016.07.315
185
Methods. The presentation describes the methods used for development of e-learning materials; the paradigm and the process of practical use; the testing and assessment of e-learning. Statistics from the use of these materials and their web sites will be used to support the findings. Results. The results include the implementation of c.250 elearning practical tasks. The paradigm plus quick dissemination was found essential for their success. Similarly, the flexibility built into the e-learning materials, allowed potential modification and easy implementation. The uncomplicated e-platform led to increased longevity of the materials, also allowing updates. The international implementation of the e-learning materials (c.70 countries) was supported by the introduction of Multilingual Dictionary of Medical Physics Terms. The greatest challenge was associated with the constantly changing e-learning software format, this being the main reason for the short life of most e-learning materials. Interactive teaching materials are specially affected by this issue. Conclusion. The presentation underlines the need of e-learning in medical physics and shows the link between its application and the growth of medical physicists globally. e-Learning is presented as essential for education/training, especially when it is blended with classical learning. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejmp.2016.07.316
THE SOCIAL WEB: A NEW COMMUNICATION MEDIUM AND SCIENTIFIC EVALUATION TOOL Gaspar Sánchez Merino. Araba University Hospital, Spain The term Web 2.0 describes World Wide Web sites that emphasize user-generated content, usability, and interoperability. It was popularized by Tim O’Reilly and Dale Dougherty at the O’Reilly Media Web 2.0 Conference in late 2004, though it was coined by Darcy DiNucci in 1999. An important part of Web 2.0 is the Social web, consisting of a number of online tools and platforms where people share their perspectives, opinions, thoughts and experiences. Nowadays, the Social Web is highly accepted in the general population, and it can be regarded as an imperative communication tool; yet scientific community remains reluctant to exploit its potential. A recent study showed that the adoption of the social Web by 1517 highly cited scientist is very low, being LinkedIn the most popular. In a survey conducted by Nature in 2014 with 3509 respondents, more than 88% of scientists and engineers said that they were aware of Google+ and Twitter with little difference between countries, but still only 15% visited those sites regularly. In this work, we present the main Web 2.0 tools in the context of communication medical physics and scientific research. Furthermore, we analyze its potential value as a scientific evaluation tool by introducing the concept of altmetrics. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejmp.2016.07.317
SUCCESSES AND CHALLENGES OF E-LEARNING PRACTICAL INTRODUCTION IN MEDICAL PHYSICS EDUCATION AND TRAINING Slavik Tabakov. King’s College London, UK; International Organization for Medical Physics, UK Introduction. The presentation is based on over 15 years everyday use of e-learning in the teaching process. It incorporates the findings of several feedback collections and assessments (by students and teachers). Purpose. The successes of practical introduction of e-learning in medical physics, as well as the challenges faced in this process, will be useful to a wide audience of educators.
TRUTH OR DARE: ACHIEVING LOWER RADIATION DOSES IN CT Euthimios M. Agadakos. Panhellenic Society of Radiological Technologists, General Hospital of Athens LAIKO, Greece The continuous evolution of computed tomography (CT) technology has allowed for wider clinical CT utilization. However the increased radiation doses associated with CT have raised concerns about the risk of carcinogenesis among Radiation Protection Authorities, health professionals and patients. Although the benefit of a justified CT examination by and large outweighs the risk, optimization of the procedure is essential to further this risk. Moreover CT