PANEPISTIMIO KRITIS/ UNIVERSITY OF CRETE
The University of Crete (UoC) is a multi-disciplinary, non-profit, higher education and research organisation. It has 5 Schools (medicine, sciences and engineering, philosophy, education, social, economic and political sciences), as well as several affiliated research-oriented institutions including the university hospital.
The Medical Physics department possesses a strong expertise in scientific topics related to medical radiation protection and medical dosimetry. It holds all the dedicated equipment to carry out dose measurements in diagnostic/interventional radiology, nuclear medicine and radiation therapy. The department of Radiology is accredited by the EuroSafe Imaging programme of the European Society of Radiology. The department has a large number of modern imaging systems including digital radiography, CT and MR scanners and a fully equipped interventional radiology suite. The department of radiotherapy serves Crete’s and Southern Greece’s radiotherapy needs and approximately 100 patients are treated every day with 2 modern linear accelerators capable of providing photon and electron beams up to 15MeV. Radiation treatments are deployed using state-of-the-art delivery techniques (IMRT, VMAT) with cutting-edge technology for patient immobilisation and treatment verification.
Researchers from UoC are pioneers in the fields of diagnostic and interventional dosimetry and radiation therapy dosimetry and radiogenic risk assessment. They are internationally recognised for their experience in patient-specific and equipment-specific Monte Carlo simulation-based dosimetry calculations and radiation-induced risk estimations. In addition, the University of Crete can provide data from X-ray imaging and radiation therapy procedures for use within the project. Prof. John Damilakis has the expertise, leadership and training necessary to successfully coordinate a research project on radiation risk appraisal in medicine. He has a background in medical physics with specific expertise in medical dosimetry and medical radiation protection research and data analysis.
Role in the project
Prof. John Damilakis is the Scientific Coordinator of the project and runs the overall scientific, technological and ethical management. Specifically, UoC will develop novel methods and tools for the estimation of dose and radiogenic risk from radiological procedures used in everyday clinical practice for the management of patients with suspected or diagnosed lymphoma and brain malignancy (WP2). UoC will develop a method based on personalised dosimetry for the accurate and quick estimation of patient organ doses and risks from CT and radiography examinations. Accuracy and completeness of organ dose estimations will be improved through utilisation of artificial intelligence (AI) techniques. A detailed method and tools to provide accurate 3D dose distributions within the patient, that will be used to estimate organ doses from radiation therapy imaging before, during and after radiation therapy of patients with lymphoma and brain malignancy, will also be developed by the UoC. Patient data will be stored in the SINFONIA repository. UoC will contribute to data collection/big data management (WP5) by providing necessary requirements and benchmarking knowledge for big data repository development, data collection and management. Multidisciplinary education and training opportunities to professionals involved in the management of patients with lymphoma and brain malignancy (WP6) will be offered by UoC scientists with long experience in education and training in the fields of medical dosimetry and risk appraisal. Moreover, the UoC will participate in the task on recommendations (WP7).