Part 1 of 2 Parts
     There is a strange blue light association with nuclear reactors called Cherenkov radiation. It is a blue glow that is emitted by spent nuclear fuel assemblies immersed in cooling pools near the reactors. It is caused by charged particles that are moving through a medium (in this case water) faster than the speed of light through the same medium Any type of electromagnetic radiation can be used to create an image. The Norris Cancer Center in Lebanon has spun off a private enterprise from Dartmouth University that employs Cerenkov radiation to help them observe what is happening as cancers are being treated with radiation.
     The Dartmouth-Hitchcock’s Norris Cotton Cancer Center (NCCC) is the very first cancer center in the world to install what is being called BeamSite Cherenkov imaging cameras in its radiotherapy treatment rooms. This new camera system was invented, validated and commercialized by entrepreneurs from the NCCC and the Dartmouth spinoff biomedicine technology company, DoseOptics, LLC. Images and video are captured from the beam that is being directed at the patient. This allows the radiation oncology team to visualize the delivery of the treatment.
     Cherenkov imaging has made radiation treatment a visual process. The Cherenkov effect occurs when photons in beams of electromagnetic radiation interact with tissue, such as skin, producing a small emission of light from the surface. BeamSite cameras are able to capture images of the treatment-beam shapes in real time. They can also show levels of intensity that are proportional to the dose of radiation. This visual information can be used to verify both the accuracy of dose and of beam delivery at each daily treatment. This type of verification is not possible using the current standard quality assurance measures.
       Brian Pogue, PhD is the co-director of the Translational Engineering in Cancer Research Program at NCCC, MacLean Professor of Engineering Sciences at Dartmouth Engineering and co-founder of DoseOptics, LLC. He said, “Cherenkov imaging provides visualization of the radiation therapy treatment, so that the treatment team can see everything, and make adjustments when unexpected things happen.”
     A joint engineering and oncology team analyzed events recorded in their Cherenkov imaging program over a period of several years. They documented incidents when radiotherapy delivery was not optimal and the adjustments that were made to rectify the problem. The results of their study were published in an article tilted Initial Clinical Experience of Cherenkov Imaging in External Beam Radiation Therapy Identifies Opportunities to Improve Treatment Delivery in The International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics.
     BeamSite cameras were invented by DoseOptics, LLC, and pioneered at Dartmouth’s and Dartmouth-Hitchcock’s Norris Cotton Cancer Center have been used to capture Cherenkov light emissions that provide radiation therapy teams the ability to view real-time video of the beam directly on the patients. The oncology team can make adjustments for dose accuracy as the targeted area for radiation exposure moves. The radiation exposure site can vary as the patient inhales.
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