Brachytherapy for Rapid Cancer Treatment

Project Description

Radiation therapy remains an important component of cancer treatment with approximately 50% of all cancer patients receiving radiation therapy during their course of illness; it contributes towards 40% of curative treatment for cancer. Brachytherapy is one form of radiation therapy that minimizes exposure to healthy tissue during procedures to treat cancers of the breast, prostate, and other organs.

Problem: Currently there are only two types of brachytherapy - Low dose radiation (LDR) and high dose radiation (HDR) brachytherapy. LDR uses very low energy radiation sources that are permanently placed in the body with a low dose rate to minimize the radiation risk but the treatment time could take weeks or months. HDR uses a much higher energy radiation source and a high dose rate, and the treatment time is shorter, but there is a higher risk of radiation exposure to healthy cells and tissue. 

Project Description Continued 

We are exploring a new type of radiation capsule that can be remotely controlled using inductive coupling outside the body to block and release radiation with customized directionality. This enables precision dose delivery with a high dose rate for low-energy LDR radiation sources.

Benefits:

  • Shorter treatment time
  • Lower radiation risk
  • Safer handling of LDR radiation sources due to capsule design

This is a highly multi-disciplinary project involving electrical, mechanical, mechatronics, and nuclear engineering, as well as physics, biology, and radiation oncology. 

Students are involved in making small electromagnets based on physics calculations and COMSOL and Matlab simulations. The capsule designed is done using CAD software such as SolidWorks. Prototyping and testing are another important part of this project. The nuclear engineering aspect is the calculation for the capsule shielding, the dose rate, and radiation detectors, and TOPAS nuclear radiation simulations.

Research Requirements

Any one of the following: 

  1. CAD (SolidWorks) and 3D printing
  2. Matlab simulation software
  3. COMSOL software
  4. Experience with basic electrical engineering labs (power supplies, breadboards, oscilloscope, multimeters)
  5. Nuclear engineering background
  6. Biology or related background
  7. Mechanical Engineering or Mechatronics Engineering background

OR
None of the above, but you have an interest in hands-on prototyping and testing

Duration

8/1/2023 - 12/31/2027

Contact

Dr. Hoseon Lee (Electrical & Computer Engineering) hoseon.lee@kennesaw.edu
Dr. Chetan Dhital (Physics) cdhital@kennesaw.edu
Dr. Tris Utshig (Nuclear Engineering, Mechanical Engineering) tutschig@kennesaw.edu
Dr. Eduardo B. Farfan (Nuclear Engineering) efarfan1@kennesaw.edu