The Science Behind Your Care: The Medical Physics Team
Behind every radiation treatment is a dedicated team of Medical Physicists. We are the scientific experts who work closely with the entire radiation oncology team, including consultant radiation oncologists and radiation therapists, to ensure the safety and accuracy of your treatment.
What We Do
Treatment Planning. The physics department is involved in developing site specific treatment planning protocols and investigating complex treatment cases. Before any patient begins treatment, their unique plan undergoes a series of quality assurance checks performed by the physicists to ensure that each plan is both safe and deliverable. We use specialised detectors to physically measure the radiation dose from the treatment machine which is then compared to the calculated plan to confirm that the complex, targeted dose will be delivered accurately and safely, ensuring the patient receives the intended radiation while sparing the healthy tissues.
Radiation Protection. Radiation protection involves all measures taken to ensure the safety of patients, staff, and the public from unnecessary radiation exposure. Our team designs and verifies the shielding in treatment rooms, establishes safety protocols, runs radiation protection courses, and continuously monitors the environment, ensuring conformity with international standards and guidelines. By adhering to the “As Low As Reasonably Achievable” (ALARA) principle, we ensure that the therapeutic benefits of radiation are maximised while minimising any potential risks.
Commissioning of New Equipment and Software. Commissioning is the comprehensive process of testing and validating any new technology before it is used for patient treatments. When we acquire a new linear accelerator or planning software, our physics team performs extensive testing to characterise its performance, understand its limitations, and collect baseline data. We ensure that the equipment is calibrated, meets all safety standards, and is fully integrated into our clinical workflow, guaranteeing consistently safe and effective operation from its very first use.
Quality Assurance. Quality Assurance (QA) refers to the ongoing testing of all our radiotherapy machines to ensure they continue to operate at peak performance. Just like a high-performance vehicle needs regular servicing, our linear accelerators undergo daily, monthly, and annual checks. These tests verify everything from beam output and energy to the accuracy of the mechanical movements and imaging, guaranteeing that every treatment is delivered with precision and reliability.
Clinical Engineering. Our Clinical Engineering team provides essential technical support to the physics department. These specialised engineers are responsible for the hands-on servicing and preventative maintenance of our Linear Accelerators (Linacs), working alongside physicists during Quality Assurance to ensure peak performance. Beyond the oncology department, they troubleshoot complex technical problems and maintain the functionality of a wide range of critical medical equipment throughout the hospital, ensuring that the technology our clinicians rely on is always ready for patient use.
Nuclear Medicine. The Nuclear Medicine physicists utilise radioactive substances to perform highly specialised diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. This team manages the safe administration of isotopes such as Technetium for detailed internal imaging and Iodine for targeted therapies. By combining physics expertise with clinical application, Nuclear Medicine allows us to visualise biological processes at a molecular level and provide effective treatments for various conditions, including thyroid disorders and certain types of cancer.
Research & Development. Research and Development (R&D) is our commitment to advancing cancer care. Our team is actively involved in projects aimed at developing and implementing innovative treatment techniques and technologies. By investigating new ways to image tumours, improve treatment accuracy, and make radiotherapy more effective, we contribute to the future of the field and work to provide our patients with access to the most advanced, state-of-the-art care available. With the growing use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the radiotherapy community worldwide, our physics department aims to ensure its safe implementation into clinical use at SLRON.
Education & Training. Education is a cornerstone of our department, ensuring that our team and colleagues remain at the forefront of the field. Our physicists are involved in training the next generation of medical physics professionals, including residents and trainees. The physics department works closely with University College Dublin and other institutions. In particular our staff contributes to the UCD MSc Medical Physics degree by running radiotherapy physics lectures, tutorials, and practical sessions. We also supervise a number of MSc summer projects as well as PhD level research each year, contributing to the new developments in the department and the radiotherapy field in general. Our physics staff are actively involved in the CAMPEP accredited National Radiation Oncology Physics Residency Programme (NROPRP) which itself is a foundation for a number of our staff members.
Ultimately, our department is a vital part of your care journey, providing the technical expertise that makes modern, precise radiotherapy possible. We are dedicated to ensuring that your treatment is delivered safely, accurately, and with the best possible outcome in mind.