Research topics

1. •Hardware and software development for MR-guided Accelerated Partial Breast Irradiation
   

2. •Systems and software for multi-modality registration and fusion
   

Publications and presentations

1. •Hristov D, Liu L, Adler JR, Gibbs IC, Moore T, Sarmiento M, Chang SD, Dodd R, Marks M, Do HM., Technique for Targeting Arteriovenous Malformations Using Frameless Image-Guided Robotic Radiosurgery. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2010 Aug 27. PubMed PMID: 20801584.
   

1. •Dimitre Hristov, John R Adler, Iris C Gibbs, Robert Dodd, Michael Marks, Steve D Chang, Huy M Do, Frameless image guided robotic radiosurgery of arteriovenous malformation localized on spatially correlated digital subtraction and C-arm CT angiography images. J NeuroIntervent Surg 2010; 2:252-254
   

1. •Ahn KH, Hargreaves BA, Alley MT, Horst KC, Luxton G, Daniel BL, Hristov D. MRI guidance for accelerated partial breast irradiation in prone position: imaging protocol design and evaluation. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2009 Sep 1;75(1):285-93. Epub 2009 Jul 23. PubMed PMID: 19632067.
   

Clinical challenge

A critical component of the radiotherapy process is lesion localization. Computed Tomography (CT) and Positron Emission Tomography (PET) are most commonly used for this purpose. However Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Digital Angiography and Ultrasound often offer crucial complimentary anatomical and physiological information. Yet, the integration of these modalities in radiotherapy planning is confounded by uncertainties related to compatibility with clinical radiotherapy workflow,  spatial fidelity, anatomy motion, and inter-modality image registration. We address these challenges in the development of dedicated accessories, protocols and software for the integration of multi-modality imaging in radiotherapy.