The Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering (AINSE) with assistance from The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) has recently conducted a study tour of Japan to investigate particle therapy. AINSE Managing Director, Michelle Durant and Dr Dale Prokopovich, ANSTO Physicist hosted the tour. Delegates attended from the medical and tertiary education sectors to discover how Japan has developed particle therapy from the early experimental stages through to patient treatments in the hospital setting. 

 

The first site visit was the National Institute of Radiological Sciences (NIRS) in Chiba, where major advances in therapeutic application, experimental research and new technology development have occurred in particle therapy.  Participants were able to have an in depth technical tour of the Heavy Ion Medical Accelerator in Chiba (HIMAC) and an opportunity to gain insights into the use of the facility for research and therapy from experts in the field, including the newly commissioned carbon ion superconducting gantry. 

 

The next visit was the ion-beam Radiation Oncology Center in Kanagawa (i-ROCK) where delegates were guided in the advanced application of particle therapy from a technical and therapeutic standpoint. The delegates were able to observe the respiratory gated hypofractionated carbon ion treatment delivery to a patient and follow the treatment process. The delegates were also able to visit the accelerator in order to observe how a heavy ion particle therapy facility could be physically incorporated into a hospital setting. 

 

The final visit was to a new particle therapy facility in the center of Osaka in the final stages of construction. The participants were able to interact with the new facility operators and ask questions relevant to the construction phase of a new facility and how this might transfer to an Australian context.

 

Delegates gained an awareness of the most recent developments and proven track record in particle therapy by talking to leading specialists involved in the development of particle therapy as well as the subsequent implementation and treatment. At each location participants had the opportunity to experience in-depth tours with these particle therapy experts. The tour provided a unique perspective of particle therapy and the flow of the technology from a research tool to an operational hospital environment. The Study Tour significantly broadened the individual networking with people interested in these facilities.

 

Read the News Story on the ANSTO website 

 

Due to the success of this tour, expressions of interest are now open for another AINSE tour to Japan in 2018. The AINSE Particle Therapy Tour 2018 will have an agenda based on feedback from the 2017 participants.