PhD defence W.S. (Wens) Kong

Below is a brief summary of the dissertation: 

This thesis is about optimising proton therapy treatment, a type of cancer treatment. Proton therapy works by directing beams of protons at a tumour, and because protons can be controlled more accurately than traditional X-rays, doctors can target the cancer while sparing nearby healthy tissue. The challenge is that planning these treatments is complicated: the beam is delivered in thousands of tiny “spots,” and deciding which ones to use takes a lot of time and computing power.

A new computer method was developed for proton spot selection. In plain terms, it’s a smart way of trimming down the number of spots to only the ones that really matter, and then automatically balancing all the competing goals of treatment, like hitting the tumor hard enough while protecting sensitive organs nearby. By focusing only on the most useful spots, the system speeds up the planning process and makes it more efficient. It also accounts for uncertainties, such as small changes in patient position or anatomy, so the treatment plan remains reliable even if things aren’t perfect.

Using this spot selection technique, the influence of shoot-through beams, proton beam angle configuration and arc (radiation from all around the patient) have been investigated.