Veng Jean Heng

Mixed Beam Radiation Therapy (MBRT) consists of the delivery of a combination of photon and electron external beams. By combining the limited penetration depth of electrons and the conformality that can be achieved with photons, MBRT has the potential to provide better tissue sparing while maintaining target coverage for superficial tumors. The superior electron surface dose also allows for a bolus-free delivery. As the photon multileaf collimator is used to deliver the complex electron apertures, MBRT plans require no additional hardware to be delivered on current state-of- the-art linacs. To bring MBRT to the clinic, work must be done to accelerate the treatment planning process. A fast pre-calculated Monte Carlo method was developed to speed up electron beamlet calculations. More work will be done to improve the robustness of MBRT plans to electron range uncertainties. Retrospective planning studies will be performed to identify sites that stand to benefit the most from MBRT, while demonstrating its dosimetric advantages. A clinically practical quality assurance protocol of MBRT plans will also be devised.