Medical Physics Seminar – Monday, March 13, 2017
Radixact: The next chapter in TomoTherapy innovation at UW Madison
Jennifer Smilowitz, PhD, DABR
Clinical Associate Professor, Medical Physics and Human Oncology, UW-School of Medicine & Public Health, Madison, WI - USA
TomoTherapy is synonymous with medical physics innovation at the University of WI. In 1988, the tomotherapy was conceived by Professor Rock Mackie and by 2002 the first patient was treated at the UW Hospital. In the past 20 years, Tomotherapy has matured, with significant hardware and software improvements resulting in improved stability and reliability. Currently our 2 TomoTherapy units treat almost all clinical cases from complex IMRT to 3D palliative cases. Radixact is the next chapter in TomoTherapy delivery systems. An alpha research Radixact system installed in WIMR is being used to test and develop new technologies. Radixact features a higher dose rate, new couch features and a redesigned gantry with space for an onboard kV imaging system. Current research also includes a motion compensation solution and integration with a new integrated treatment planning system. I have been fortunate to be part of the TomoTherapy experience and will share a brief history and summary of current TomoTherapy research topics at UW Madison.