Pioneering Symposium in “Advances in Medical Physics for Future Generation”
On the occasion of
International Day of Medical Physics (IDMP)
Theme: Inspiring the Next Generation of Medical Physicists
23rd November 2024
Boopalan Balaji
Chief Medical Physicist and Radiological Safety Officer, KLE Cancer Hospital,
KLES Dr. Prabhakar Kore Hospital and MRC, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College,
KLE Academy of Higher Education and Research, Belagavi.
Email of presenting author: balanmp6@gmail.com
On 23rd November 2024, a pioneering symposium on “Advances in Medical Physics for Future Generations” with the theme of “Inspiring the Next Generation of Medical Physicists” was organized by the Medical Physics Division, Department of Radiation Oncology, KLE Cancer Hospital, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, KLE Academy of Higher Education and Research, Belagavi, to commemorate the International Day of Medical Physics 2024. The symposium was held in Prof. (Dr.) V.D. Patil Hall, KLE Convention Centre, JNMC Campus, KLE University, Belagavi.
The International Organization for Medical Physics (IOMP) started celebrating Madam Marie Curie’s birthday (7th November) every year as International Day of Medical Physics. The purpose of celebration of IDMP is 1) Providing guidance and support to students and early career professionals. 2) Keeping young professionals updated on advancements in the medical physics field through workshops, symposiums, conferences, webinars, etc. 3) Facilitating idea exchange and collaboration through networking and 4) Highlighting accomplishments and raising public awareness about this profession.
On this International Day of Medical Physics celebration, we turned our focus to the future of healthcare-specifically, to the next generation of medical physicists. As we celebrate the vital contributions of medical physicists worldwide, it is essential that we inspire and empower young minds to take up the challenge of advancing this dynamic and impactful field. Medical physicists are at the heart of many of the innovations that improve patient care, from developing advanced imaging technologies to optimizing radiation treatments for cancer. But as healthcare continues to evolve, the need for skilled and passionate medical physicists are important.
We encouraged students, educators, and professionals alike to join forces in fostering a greater understanding of medical physics and its potential. Through mentorship, accessible education, and hands-on experience, we ignited the curiosity and creativity of tomorrow’s medical physicists. We celebrated and supported those who inspire, educate, and mentor the future leaders of medical physics, ensuring that the next generation is ready to meet the challenges and opportunities of the future with passion, innovation, and dedication.
In view of these, we had received the 150 participants from the southern part of India with the regional states of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, and Tamil Nadu, and also some participants from Gurgaon, Haryana. Participants include young enthusiastic students, interns, young medical physicists, and senior medical physicists.
The Symposium was started with inaugural function which was graced by Chief Guest Prof. (Dr.) Nitin M. Gangane, Hon’ble Vice Chancellor, KAHER, Belagavi and Guests of Honour Prof. (Dr.) M. S. Ganachari, Hon’ble Registrar, KAHER, Belagavi, Prof. (Dr.) V.D. Patil, Director, Hospital Development & New Projects, JNMC, KAHER, Belagavi, Prof. (Mrs.) N.S. Mahantashetti, Principal, J. N. Medical college, Belagavi, Prof. (Dr.) Rajesh Powar, Vice-Principal, J. N. Medical college, Belagavi, Prof. (Dr.) V.M. Pattanshetti, Vice-Principal, J. N. Medical college, Belagavi, Prof. (Dr.) Arif Maldar, Medical Superintendent, KLES Dr. Prabhakar Kore Charitable Hospital, Belagavi, Prof. (Dr.) M. V. Jali, Medical Director & CE, KLE Cancer Hospital, Belagavi, Dr. (Col.) M. Dayananda, Medical Director, KLES Dr. Prabhakar Kore Hospital & MRC, Belagavi.
The inaugural program started with the prayer song. Dr. Imtiaz Ahmed, Prof. and Head of Radiation Oncology and the Organizing Chairman, welcomed the chief guest, guests of honor, invited speakers, chairpersons, and delegates, followed with lighting the lamp by the chief guest and other dignitaries. Mr. E. Rajadurai, AMPI-Karnataka Chapter Chairperson, spoke about the importance of celebrating the IDMP and highlighted the contributions of Madam Marie Curie in the field of medical physics. He also added the objectives of the IDMP and the theme of IDMP 2024, “Inspiring the Next Generation of Medical Physicists.” Our chief guest, Prof. (Dr.) Nitin M. Gangane, Hon’ble Vice Chancellor, KAHER, delivered the speech about the importance of the medical physicist role, not only with radiation therapy but also with major contributions to diagnostic radiology and nuclear medicine and the demand of medical physicists with a huge scope in academia and research. He also appreciated the radiation oncology department’s effort for organizing the symposium and wished the event success for the grant success. He also encouraged the young professionals to utilize the opportunity to mingle and collaborate with the seniors. The inaugural function is ended with a vote of thanks by Mr. Boopalan Balaji, Chief Medical Physicist and RSO, and the organizing secretary, extending gratitude for all the dignitaries, invited faculties, delegates, and the supporting team.
In recognition of the excellence achieved and professional thoroughness exhibited in the field of medical/radiological physics, the Executive Committee of the Association of Medical Physicists of India (Karnataka Chapter) considered and privileged to confer and honor the “Dr. Sanjay S Supe Oration Award” for the year 2024 to Dr. S. Ramesh Babu, Senior Medical Physicist & Radiation Safety Officer, Karnataka Medical College & Research Institute, Hubli, Karnataka, during the International Day of Medical Physics 2024 celebrations and annual meeting of AMPI(K) hosted by KLE Academy of Higher Education & Research, Belagavi, on this day of 23rd November 2024 at Belagavi, Karnataka. The citation and the award were honored by Dr. M. V. Jali, Medical Director & CE, KLE Cancer Hospital, and by the Executive Committee Members of AMPI-K, Senior Physicists of the Karnataka Chapter. Academic Session-1 was started with Dr. S. Ramesh Babu by delivering the Dr. Sanjay S Supe Memorial oration for the year 2024 and excellent speech about the Advances in Medical Physics right from the lower to higher end techniques in Diagnostic Imaging, Nuclear Imaging and Radiotherapy. Second Invited Speaker Dr. Jerrin Amalraj, Lead Medical Physicist and RSO, Apollo Hospitals, Bangalore delivered the talk on Robotic Radiosurgery – The Relevance of Dedicated SRS Systems Versus Multimodality C-Arm Linac in Modern Radiosurgery. He has provided his excellent talk in the workflow of Cyberknife Robotic Radiosurgery System and difference in workflow with C-Arm Linac’s and merits & demerits of dedicated RS systems vs Multi- Modality C-Arm Linacs. Session-1 was Chaired by Dr. K.M. Ganesh, Professor in Radiation Physics, Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology, Bangalore and Dr. Ashwin Patil, Professor in Radiology, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, KAHER, Belagavi.
Session-2 was chaired by Dr. Sathiyan S, Prof. and Head of Radiological Physics, Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology, Bangalore, and Dr. Mahesh Kalloli, Associate Professor in Surgical Oncology, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, KAHER, Belagavi. The first invited talk in Session-2 was presented on the topic of optimizing radiation oncology through robotic automation with script integration in Elekta Monaco and Varian Eclipse TPS by Dr. Pichandi Anchineyan, Director of Medical Physics, Healthcare Global Enterprises Pvt. Ltd., Bengaluru. He delivered his wonderful talk about the importance of artificial intelligence and the use of machine learning for the automation in planning of RT and real-world data scripting in the group of hospitals in HCG to enhance the planning output and to improve the standardization in the plan quality. Dr. Ravikumar, Professor and Head of Radiation Physics, Sri Shankara Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, Bengaluru, delivered his excellent talk on Advances in Patient-Specific Quality Assurance. He spoke about the need for patient-specific QA in complex treatment, methods of PSQA, AAPM TG-218 recommendations for a point dose, planar dose, and 3D volumetric verification and its tolerance and action limits; a comparison of commercially available devices; challenges facing PSQA and machine learning virtual QA; and its interpretation in QA results. The third invited talk was presented in Essence of Motion management in Hypo fractionated Radiotherapy by Dr. N. Karthikeyan, Senior Medical Physicist and RSO, Mazumdar Shaw Medical Centre, Narayana Health, Bangalore. He spoke about the impacts of respiratory motion in radiotherapy, respiratory motion management techniques, types of motion management, systems for external and internal motion monitoring during RT delivery, hybrid methods, the recommended workflow for motion management, and the future scope in motion management.
Session-3 was chaired by of Dr. Shanmukhappa Kaginelli, Associate Professor and Head, JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research, Mysore, Dr. Kumar Vinchurkar, Professor and Head, Department of Surgical Oncology and Dr. Praful Maste, Professor and Head Neuro Surgery Department, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical college, KAHER, Belagavi. Session-3 first invited talk was in Commissioning and performance testing of the Catalyst HD+ Surface Guided Radiotherapy Platform by Dr. Karthikeyan S, Chief Medical Physicist and RSO, Aster Hospitals, Bangalore. He presented about what is Surface Guided Radiotherapy and why we wanted to use SGRT, how does C-RAD SGRT work and useful for patients, commissioning, Quality Assurance, Integration of CRAD SGRT with LINAC, workflow and different types of Visual Monitoring devices. The next invited talk was presented by Shri. Ponnusamy, Senior Scientific Officer, Department of Neurosurgery, NIMHANS, Bangalore about the Precision in Practice: The role of Gamma Knife ICON in Stereotactic Radiosurgery. He spoke about the history of Gamma Knife Radiosurgery, CBCT image guidance optical motion tracking and gating capability Gamma Knife ICON machine and its frame systems, the modern way of source loading in the Gamma Knife machines, Quality Assurance tests, design of Gamma Knife Perfexion and ICON models, Layout requirement for Gamma Knife Systems and its radiation protection surveys, Gamma Knife SRS treatment workflow starting with Simulation, Planning, treatment plan Evaluation and Execution and finally treatment outcomes for Brain Metastases, Meningiomas, Vestibular Schwannomas, Vascular Disorders and challenges faced during treatment and post treatment. Last and final invited talk was presented in the topic of External beam planning for breast cancer patients: Practical Guidelines and suggestions for an effective planning strategy by Shri. E. Rajadurai, Chief Medical Physicist and RSO, Baptist Hospital, Bangalore. He presented about the simulation and scanning process for breast RT, different RT techniques of 3DCRT, IMRT & VMAT and its pros and cons of each technique. He also added the importance of beam arrangements and recommended the beam alignments for each technique for use reducing the OARs doses and better target coverage to fulfil the aim of RT.
We have received the research abstracts from participants to present their research work in this symposium to encourage the young medical physicists and shortlisted eight abstracts were allowed to present during the symposium. The following abstracts were presented in the symposium 1) Validation of Treatment Couch model included in Eclipse TPS by Mr. Sridhar CH, Senior Medical Physicist, Father Muller Medical College and Hospital, Mangalore 2) An Institutional experience of India’s first Shinva Linac machines: Commissioning and clinical performance by Mr. Jagadish R, Senior Medical Physicist, Indrayani Hospital, Pune 3) Setting the tolerance and action limit for patient specific quality assurance of craniospinal irradiation volumetric modulated arc therapy based on AAPM TG-218 report by Ms. Kiruthika Prakasam, Resident Medical Physicist, KMIO, Bengalore 4) An Initial Clinical experience of Total Skin Electron Irradiation at State Cancer Institute (SCI)-Karnataka by Mr. Mohammad Abdul Fatha, Resident Medical Physicist, KMIO, Bangalore 5) Quantification and comparison of the reference dose measurements using IAEA TRS-398 protocols and its revised version by Mr.Thilakraj S, Resident Medical Physicist, KMIO, Bangalore 6) Comparison of 2D,3DCRT, IMRT & VMAT planning for Oesophagus cancer in sequential method by Ms. Ankita Narvekar, Junior Medical Physicist, KLE Cancer Hospital, JNMC, KAHER, Belagavi 7) Comparative study of Manual Constraint-based and template constraint-based treatment plans generated by Varian ETHOS for Head and Neck Cancer Patients by Mr. Ram Kumar, Medical Physicist, HCG, Bangalore and 8) Evaluation of Relative Electron Density Vs Hounsfield unit of dedicated CT Simulator for various RT Protocols by Mr. Havin Kumar KP, Medical Physicist, KLE Cancer Hospital, KAHER, Belagavi. This Session-4 was chaired by the chairpersons of Dr. Maruthu Pandiayan, Chief Medical Physicist, Gleanegles BGS Global, Bangalore, Dr. Rohan Bhise, Professor and Head, Department of Medical Oncology and Dr. Rajendra Mali, Professor and RSO, Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, KAHER, Belagavi. Scientific committee have selected 2 best oral presentations and AMPI-K awarded the case prize to encourage their active participation and presented their research paper. The symposium was ended with the valedictory function and prize distribution to winners of oral presenters. Mr. Mohammad Abdul Fatha and Mr. Havin Kumar received the Best Oral Presentation Award from Dr. M. V. Jali, Medical Director & CE, KLE Cancer Hospital, KAHER. Dr. Senthil Manikandan, AMPI-K Secretary provided the vote of thanks and appreciated the organizers who made the IDMP celebration with grand success. Dr. M.V. Jali, Medical Director and CE delivered the short speech of grand success of IDMP 2024 with his appreciation for the Association of Medical Physicists of India-Karnataka Chapter for giving the opportunity to conduct this event and also thanked KLE university for provided the support and encouragement for this event. He also thanked all the invited speakers and faculties from the various cities and wished all the delegates, students and young medical physicist for their future endeavours and thanked them for wonderful contribution and active participation in this symposium. The symposium concluded with the inspiration for the younger generation of medical physicist with fulfil the objective of the theme “Inspiring the next generation of Medical Physicist”.
