Grand challenges for medical physics in radiation oncology.

Grand challenges for medical physics in radiation oncology. Radiother Oncol. 2020 Oct 08;: Authors: Fiorino C, Jeraj R, Clark CH, Garibaldi C, Georg D, Muren L, van Elmpt W, Bortfeld T, Jornet N Abstract Medical physics has made considerable contributions to recent advances in radiation oncology. Medical physicists are key players in the clinical and scientific radiation oncology context due to their unique skill sets, flexibility, clinical involvement and intrinsic translational character. The continuing development and widespread adoption of "high-tech" radiotherapy has led to an increased need for medical physics involvement. More recently, our field is rapidly changing towards an era of "precision oncology". These changes have opened new challenges for the definition of the professional and scientific roles and responsibilities of medical physicists. In this paper, we have identified four grand challenges of medical physics in radiation oncology: (1) improving target volume definition, (2) adoption of artificial intelligence and automation, (3) development of predictive models of biological effects for precision medicine, and (4) need for leadership. New visions and suggestions to orientate medical physics to successfully face these new challenges are summarized. We foresee that the scientific and professional challenges of our times are pushing medical physicists to accelerate toward multidisciplinarity. Medical physicists are e...
Source: Radiotherapy and Oncology : journal of the European Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology - Category: Radiology Authors: Tags: Radiother Oncol Source Type: research