Microbeam radiation therapy
Optimising dose parameters to maximise Microbeam radiation therapy's benefits.
Microbeam Radiation Therapy (MRT) is an innovative preclinical radiotherapy technique which exploits arrays of synchrotron-generated parallel X-ray microbeams - as opposed to single wide beams in conventional radiotherapy - to treat tumours.
Preclinical studies show that the efficacy of MRT is due to the differential effect of the microbeam pattern on normal tissues and tumours, the first appearing to be more tolerant of such microscopic inhomogeneity of dose than tumours. This makes this therapy particularly suitable for areas, such as the brain, in which minimising damage is vital.
Using computer simulations and experiments, our research consists in the optimisation of the parameters best suited to produce the desired dose profiles that maximise the MRT therapeutic benefit.