This course is intended for radiation oncologists, radiologists, residents, medical physicists, and radiation therapists/technologists who want to learn about the application of MRI for radiotherapy.

This online course is offered in parts:

1a MRI in Radiotherapy (10 – 21 May)

General lectures on the basics of MR physics and theory on commonly used MR techniques. Additionally, a wide range of clinical radiotherapy applications will be presented. 

This part of the course will start May 10th with a live online introduction. Content will be offered as e-learning modules and/or recorded lectures which can be followed at your own convenience. 

During the course there will be several opportunities for interaction with Q&A sessions and implementation workshops. 

As part of the course, small online delineation sessions will be offered (prostate, rectum, head-and-neck).

1b Introduction to MR protocol development (19 - 20 May)

This module is aimed at (potential) users of the Philips platform and will be hosted by Philips Healthcare. It will cover some background of Philips MR protocols and will be centered around practical sessions on MR simulators working with MR protocols. Participants will be able to familiarize themselves with the user interface and learn about the function and interactions of several key parameters in the protocols. 

The module is 2 sessions of ~2,5 hours and will be offered at 2 different timeslots:

o Timeslot 1: 19/5 & 20/5, 9:30 – 12:00 (CEST)

o Timeslot 2: 19/5 & 20/5, 15:00 – 17:30 (CEST)

(Both timeslots offer the same content. Please only register for either one  and only in combination with MRI in Radiotherapy)

2 MR-Linac (25 May – 4 June)

This part will focus specifically on MR-Linac and has lectures on the physics of MR-Linac (eg. system design, commissioning, QA) and on a wide range of clinical treatment sites. 

This part of the course will start May 25th with a live online introduction. Content will be offered as e-learning modules and/or recorded lectures which can followed at your own convenience. 

During the course there will be several opportunities for interaction with Q&A sessions, live keynote lectures and implementation workshops. 

Overview of course program

(times in CEST)

MRI in Radiotherapy

Monday 10 May

11:00 – 13:00 Welcome & Introduction MRI for Radiotherapy

Friday 14 May

12:00 – 13:00 Q&A Session 1

17:00 – 18:00 Q&A Session 2

Monday 17 May

11:00 – 13:00 Interactive workshop 1: clinical introduction (abdomen & pelvis)

16:00 – 18:00 Interactive workshop 2: clinical introduction (head-and-neck, brain & thorax)

Friday May 21

12:00 – 13:00 Q&A session 3

17:00 – 18:00 Q&A session 4

Subjects for lectures: (amongst other things)

o MRI Physics

o Diffusion weighted MRI

o Contrast enhanced MRI

o Fat suppression

o MRI safety

o MRI quality assurance

o MRI in radiotherapy position

o MR only

o MRI in brachytherapy

o Clinical sites: Prostate, Head-and-neck, Cervix, Brain

MR-Linac

Tuesday 25 May

11:00 – 12:00 Welcome & MRL: clinical goals

Friday 28 May

11:00 – 12:00 Clinical evaluation of MR-Linac: the MOMENTUM study

12:00 – 13:00 Q&A Session 1

17:00 – 18:00 Q&A Session 2

Monday 31 May

11:00 – 13:00 Interactive workshop 1: MRL implementation (abdomen & pelvis)

16:00 – 18:00 Interactive workshop 2: MRL implementation (head-and-neck, brain & thorax)

Friday 4 June

11:00 – 12:00 The future of MR-Linac

12:00 – 13:00 Q&A session 3

17:00 – 18:00 Q&A session 4

18:00 Closing

Subjects for lectures: (amongst other things)

o System design

o MRL physics

o Commissioning & acceptance 

o Quality assurance 

o Treatment planning

o Dosimetry

o MRI imaging 

o Motion monitoring

o Clinical workflows

o Clinical sites: Prostate, Head-and-neck, Cervix, Brain, Liver, Pancreas, Rectum, Lung, Esophagus, Breast