Ion beams exhibit superior physical properties compared to conventional therapy, achieving very conformal dose distributions and increased biological effectiveness — yet their potential is constrained by the lack of sophisticated image guidance during treatment.
Integrating Magnetic Resonance imaging with ion beam therapy would be a paradigm shift: real-time adaptive strategies to account for both inter- and intra-fractional anatomical changes with improved soft-tissue contrast. However, clinical implementation requires accurate dosimetry in the presence of magnetic fields — where the field deflects primary ions and secondary charged particles, altering dose distribution, beam quality, LET distributions, and detector response.
The project’s goal is our motto: Make radiation therapy even more precise.
The DosiMagic project aims to provide a dosimetry solution as an essential milestone to enable the clinical realization of MR-guided ion beam therapy — clinical guidelines for dosimetry in magnetic field environments.
Three objectives are laid out to achieve this goal:
- Understand the physics — Investigation of general effects of magnetic fields on the beam quality in particle beams
- Correct the effects — Establishing correction factors for reference and non-reference dosimetry in magnetic fields
- Translate into the clinic — Translation to best-practice particle therapy dosimetry in magnetic fields.
The Outcome
Increased precision of dose delivery, reduced side effects, and improved treatment outcomes — through MR-guided ion therapy built on trusted dosimetry.
