The RAPTOR (Real-time Adaptive Particle Therapy of Cancer) Innovative Training Network is recruiting 15 highly motivated PhD students. One of the selected students will be enrolled in the PhD training programme in Bioengineering at Dipartimento di Elettronica, Informazione e Bioingegneria, under the supervision of Prof. Guido Baroni and Prof. Chiara Paganelli, as part of CartCasLab’s team.
RAPTOR (Real-time Adaptive Particle Therapy of Cancer) is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network (ITN) funded by the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme of the European Union which will start on the 1st March 2021. RAPTOR brings together 13 beneficiaries and 15 partner organizations with the aim of bringing adaptive particle therapy to the clinic.
The high precision of particle therapy comes as a double-edged sword since particle therapy is normally less robust than X-ray radiotherapy. Several uncertainties, such as changes in anatomy, positioning, organ motion and systematic uncertainties can have a significant impact on where the final dose is delivered.
The clinical workflow has been adopted from conventional X-ray radiotherapy, where the treatment plan is based on the initial computed tomography scan of a patient. Since, the treatment usually lasts several weeks, it is likely that the initial treatment plan becomes less valid due to the changes of the patient anatomy as the treatment progresses.
RAPTOR proposes a shift in the paradigm by adapting the treatment plan on the daily anatomo-pathological situation of the patient. This would significantly increase treatment accuracy since most of the uncertainties would be minimized, thus making the most of particle therapy advantages.
For further details on the project and on the application procedure, visit the RAPTOR website.