Renée De Noyette

Deep Inspirational Breath-hold (DIBH) is a technique used during breast cancer radiotherapy, aimed to reduce dosage to the heart and left lung. Patients are asked to hold their breath for a short time during the radiation treatment, by which the heart shifts away from the breast. One of my research interests is to find out whether an abdominal breath hold would be more efficient in reducing heart and lung dose than a thoracic breath hold in prone and supine breast cancer radiotherapy.

During breast cancer radiotherapy treatments, we make use of Surface-Guided RadioTherapy (SGRT) to monitor the position and motion of the patient. Cameras mounted on the ceiling make 3D-surface scans of the patient during the treatment session. However, patients who are treated in prone position cannot be visualized properly as the breast area is located away from the cameras. My second research interest is to find a solution for this problem by investigating how we can install additional cameras that can accurately construct a 3D-image of the breast area. Thereafter, our research group will work on the implementation of the optimizations for breast cancer radiotherapy in the clinic.

These implementations will further improve the setup procedure and the precision of prone breast radiotherapy.
 

• Lab address: Radiotherapy and experimental cancer research, campus UZ Gent, Corneel Heymanslaan 10, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
• LinkedIn
• Renée De Noyette is interested to receive invitations for presentations or talks