Department missions
The key missions of the medical physics department:
- To guarantee radioprotection for patients during therapeutic and diagnostic procedures using ionising and non-ionising radiation (radiotherapy, nuclear medicine, radiological imaging)
- To implement, supervise and/or conduct quality assurance and controls of medical devices that make use of ionising and non-ionising radiation
- Along with medical teams, to contribute towards the definition of needs and choices for medical devices
- Along with medical teams, to participate in the development and the implementation of new techniques
- To cooperate with medical teams towards the improvement of patient care and of diagnostic and therapeutic techniques, in terms of quality and safety
For the radiotherapy sector, the department’s missions are:
- To implement, supervise and conduct radiation metrology
- To implement, supervise and/or conduct dosimetric treatment planning
Radioprotection: to guarantee the protection of staff using ionising radiation
- Work station study
- Radiological zoning
- Management of radioactive sources and waste
- Regulatory training
- Management of radiological incidents
- Regulatory watch
- Links with competent authorities (ASN, IRSN, etc.), management of authorisation application administration
The team
Head of department
- Alain Batalla
Medical physicists
- Victor Barraux
- Alain Batalla
- Philippe Berejny
- Cindy Bertaut
- Cyril Jaudet
- Dorothée Lebhertz**
- Laëtitia Lechippey
- Cédric Loiseau
- Solène Collet
- Cyril Moignier**
- Aurélien Corroyer-Dulmont*
- Karine Sebe
- Lucie Guerin
- Arnaud Rozes
- Anthony Véla**
(* imaging engineer, ** proton therapy)
Technicians
- 8 dosimetrists (1 on the proton therapy site)
- 3 physics technicians
- 1 radioprotection technician
Healthcare offer and expertise
The medical physics department offers its expertise in the metrology of X-ray beams and in quality management of processes using radiation in medicine. The most complex therapeutic and diagnostic techniques are used on a daily basis (tomotherapy, Cyberknife, proton therapy, brachytherapy, respiration-gated radiotherapy, total body radiotherapy, peroperative radiotherapy, 4D PET-CT scan, etc.). The medical physics department guarantees quality and safety via the control and optimisation of protocols. In radiotherapy, ‘the right dose in the right place!’ In imaging, ‘the right dose for the most accurate image!’
Equipment
A vast range of measurement and control instruments, relying on the most recent and the most tested technologies:
- ionisation chambers
- matrix detectors
- thermoluminescence
- system of quality control of treatment plans – 3D ‘Delta 4’
- etc.
Research themes / Projects
Today, the department’s main research themes cover:
- The use of a 3D printer to produce:
- brachytherapy applicators
- 3D bolus for external radiotherapy (a bolus is a material of a known density, placed on the patient’s skin, and enabling the received radiation dose to be homogenised over superficial and heterogeneous treatment zones)
- The relevance of alpha particles in the treatment of brain metastases
Furthermore, the medical physics department is naturally involved in clinical research protocols involving medical imaging and radiotherapy.
Partnerships
At local level
- Collaboration with the LPC Corpuscular Physics Laboratory in Caen on the development of new 3D radiation detectors
- Partnership with the CERVOxy team at the CYCERON centre in Caen – research unit ISTCT UMR 6030 Imaging and Therapeutic Strategies in Cerebral and Tumoral Pathologies
- Collaboration with the University of Caen (IMOGERE) for training competent staff in Radioprotection (medical ‘PCR’ = personnel competent in radioprotection)
At national level
Physicists: members of the SFPM (French society of medical physics. PCR: member of the ‘Grand Ouest’ Radioprotection network and the SFRP (French society for radioprotection).
Publications
- Applicateurs pour les traitements des carcinomes cutanés en curiethérapie à haut débit de dose (HDD) : Utilisation d’une imprimante 3D. Loiseau Cédric, Barraux Victor, Piantino Astrid, Kao William, Stefan Dinu, Lerouge Delphine, Silva Marlon. / Journée Normande de Recherche Biomédicale, 14 novembre 2017
- Utilisation du système Hexamotion couplé au détecteur Delta4 pour le contrôle de qualité des plans de traitement en inspiration bloquée. A. Basset, P. Berejny, L. Guerin, S. Collet, A Batalla / Communication affichée, 56e Journées Scientifiques de la SFPM, 14 – 16 juin 2017, Lyon
- Radioprotection d’une installation de protonthérapie. Alain Batalla, Benjamin Menard, Gilbert Pigree, Thomas Tessonnier, Anthony Vela et Jean-Louis Habrand / SFRP – Journées PCR – 6-7 novembre 2018 – Lyon
- 3D phantom and immobilisation device printing in medical imaging. L Bonnor, H Austins, A Batalla, S Collet, C Bertaut, L Lechippey, …/ Physica Medica 68, 52-53 2019
- Counterbalancing a change of acquisition time with reconstruction parameters on numerical PET. C Jaudet, G Foucras, K Weyts, E Quak, R Ciappucini, C Lasnon, A Batalla, … / Physica Medica 68, 33 2019
- Gated 18F-FDG PET/CT of the Lung Using a Respiratory Spirometric Gating Device: A Feasibility Study C Jaudet, T Filleron, K Weyts, D Didierlaurent, D Vallot, M Ouali, … / Journal of nuclear medicine technology 47 (3), 227-232 – 2019
- Digital PET systems performances: A multicenter phantom based comparison in clinical environment. D Bourhis, C Jaudet, R Guerra, C Lasnon, A Edet-Sanson, P Salaun, …/ Journal of Nuclear Medicine 60 (supplement 1), 193-198 – 2019
- Radionuclide spatial distribution and dose deposition for in vitro assessment of targeted alpha therapy. Frelin AM, Roger T, Falzone N, Quan Lee B, Sibson NR, Vallis KA, Bernaudin M, Valable S, Corroyer-Dulmont A. / Medical Physics. 2020 (IF: 2.884)
- VCAM-1 Targeted Alpha-particle Therapy for Early Brain Metastases. Corroyer-Dulmont A, Valable S, Falzone N, Frelin AM, Tietz O, Toutain J, Sarmiento M, Divoux D, Chazalviel L, Pérès E, Sibson NR, Vallis KA, Bernaudin M. / Neuro-Oncology. 2020 (IF: 10.09)
Dispensed training
The medical physics department intervenes in paramedical schools (IFMEM in Caen, BTS higher diploma in Flers and Le Havre) giving lectures in medical physics to electroradiology technician students (imaging, radiotherapy, brachytherapy, radioprotection).
The staff in charge of radioprotection at the CFB are involved in training of ‘PCRs’ = personnel competent in radioprotection, in partnership with the University of Caen (IMOGERE).
The medical physics department at the Centre François Baclesse is certified by the INSTN and the SFPM as a ‘host establishment’ for training young medical physicists (DQPRM). As such, it has been hosting and training long-term trainees (2 years) every year for the past 20 years.