| CODE | RAD1143 | ||||||
| TITLE | Radiotherapy and Oncology: Pre-treatment Procedures | ||||||
| UM LEVEL | 01 - Year 1 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||
| MQF LEVEL | Not Applicable | ||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 5 | ||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Radiography | ||||||
| DESCRIPTION | 1. Introduction to accessory equipment: - Tissue equivalence and use of bolus materials. Wedges. Tissue compensators. Immobilisation devices available. Tattooing and marking of the skin. 2. Introduction to radiotherapy technique: - An overview of frequently used single field and multi field techniques in conjunction with the types of equipment found in a radiotherapy department; - Patient identification. 3. Introduction to advanced radiotherapy techniques: - An overview of advanced radiotherapy techniques; - Clinical applications of advanced techniques. 4. Localisation of tumours: - Methods of location and localisation in current use; - To include – clinical radiographic investigations including routine radiography and the selection and use of contrast agents; ultrasound; radionuclide investigations; other organ imaging techniques; computer tomography, simulator / CT-sim, MRI. 5. Mould room procedures: - Materials in common use. Construction of immobilisation devices, jigs and beam direction devices, protective devices, tissue compensatory devices; - Health and safety in the mould room. 6. Treatment planning: - National guidelines for radiotherapy planning and treatment. Principles of treatment planning techniques. The interpretation and application of treatment prescriptions and appropriate definitions; - Calculation of treatment dose with the treated volume to include tumour and skin / sub-dermal doses; - Manually drawn simple, routine isodose distributions for single, parallel opposed and multi-field techniques. - Tolerances; - The interpretation of isodose distributions; - Introduction to computer planning. 7. Introduction to computer planning: - Data collection required for planning (patient data and beam data); - Treatment planning data pathway; - Treatment planning systems software; - Beam parameters manipulation and optimization in planning; - Normalisation; - Plan evaluation and approval; - Record information. 8. Verification of treatment plan: - Verification of treatment plan with reference of beam/patient alignment. Study-unit Aims: - Provide the students with the cognitive and evaluative skills necessary to understand and perform required pre-treatment procedures. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - discuss the basic concepts of radiotherapy and oncology technique; - evaluate the various methods of treatment preparation e.g. location, localisation, immobilisation, protective devices; - perform treatment calculations and produce manually drawn isodose distributions for commonly-used radiotherapy techniques; - select, plan and evaluate pre-treatment procedures safely and accurately; - discuss a range of accessory equipment used in radiotherapy; - identify the main feature of a treatment planning system; - identify the beam parameters that allow optimization of dose distribution. 2. Skills By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - analyse the radiotherapy prescription and its application to individual patients; - evaluate a radiotherapy treatment plan for clinical acceptability. Transferable Skills: - Identification of patients prior to radiotherapy procedures. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: - Bentel, G.C. (1996) Radiation Therapy Planning. (2nd edition). New York: McGraw-Hill. - Dobbs, J., Barrett, A., Morris, S.L. & Roques, T (2009) Practical Radiotherapy Planning. (4th edition). London: Hodder Arnold. - Health and Care Professions Council (2013) Standards of Proficiency. Radiographers. London: Health and Care Professions Council. - Hoskin, P. (editor) (2006) Radiotherapy in Practice: External Beam Radiotherapy. Oxford: Oxford University Press. - Howlett, D. & Ayers, B. (2004) The Hands on Guide to Imaging. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. - Jackson, S. & Thomas, R. (2005) Cross-Sectional Imaging Made Easy. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone. - Symonds, P. et al (editors) (2012) Walter and Miller’s Textbook of Radiotherapy. (7th edition). Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone. This list is not exhaustive. Students may also wish to use radiotherapy / oncology based journals. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Independent Study, Demonstrations & Lectures | ||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Jose Guilherme Couto Susan Mercieca Gerbert Van Dijk |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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