Medical physicists at the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) have worked with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to develop a global radiotherapy audit method.
The project was led by experts at ARPANSA's Australian Clinical Dosimetry Service - Dr Sabeena Beveridge and Dr Andrew Alves.
Dr Alves says ARPANSA developed a quality assurance method to accurately calculate the radiotherapy dose and treatment placement. He says this will make quality radiation treatment accessible to all patients irrespective of where they live.
'The IAEA called upon ARPANSA's expertise in radiotherapy dose auditing to publish a verification method that can be used around the world to test the accuracy of film dosimetry,' Dr Alves said.
'We recommended film dosimetry because when employed accurately it is inexpensive, easy to use, widely available and, crucially, can test that the radiation dose will be directed at the cancerous tumor and not at healthy organs in the body.'
Film dosimetry works because when exposed to radiation doses, the specialised film changes colour.
These films are placed inside models of the human body, called phantoms, which are exposed to radiation. The films are then taken out of the models and analysed by scientists.
Approximately 80,000 Australians received radiotherapy treatment in the last year, with numbers continuing to increase over time.
As the Australian Government's primary radiation protection authority, ARPANSA supports accuracy in cancer care ensuring that radiotherapy is accurate through our audit program .
