Medical Physics Research
The Medical Physics Division has several areas of research aimed at improving patient outcomes. Twenty faculty and staff are creating and refining methods for improved cancer imaging, planning and treatment. Cancer imaging techniques include computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET). Treatment planning research ranges from the extremely small radiation fields used in radiosurgery to the complex dynamic fields in helical and arc intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). Treatment delivery techniques research includes external beam radiation therapy with linear accelerators containing on-board imaging systems, helical tomotherapy systems, MRI-guided radiotherapy and brachytherapy.
Adaptive Radiotherapy
Advancing adaptive radiotherapy by using real‑time imaging and novel planning techniques to adjust radiation treatments to daily anatomical changes, improving tumor targeting while reducing dose to healthy tissues.
Brachytherapy
Improving brachytherapy by developing advanced imaging, motion management, and treatment planning techniques to ensure more accurate radiation delivery and better protect healthy tissue.
Clinical Operations
Studying treatment delivery errors and workflow processes to improve quality assurance, optimize verification methods, and ensure safer, more reliable radiation therapy for patients.
Imaging
Developing advanced CT‑based techniques to more accurately visualize and delineate tumors and critical structures, improving radiation treatment planning and patient safety.
Motion Management
Generating advanced monitoring and compensation techniques to account for patient and respiratory motion during treatment, improving the precision and reliability of radiation delivery.
MR-guided Radiotherapy
Creating and implementing MRI‑integrated treatment techniques that enable real‑time visualization of soft tissues and adaptive radiation delivery for more precise targeting of tumors.
Proton Therapy
Developing advanced particle‑beam techniques and treatment planning approaches to precisely deliver radiation that stops at the tumor, sparing surrounding healthy tissue and enabling safer, more personalized cancer treatment.
Radiation Measurements
Improving dosimetry techniques and detector performance to ensure accurate radiation dose delivery and better understand how radiation affects both tissues and treatment outcomes.
Radiosurgery
Optimizing stereotactic treatment planning strategies to deliver highly conformal, high‑dose radiation to tumors with rapid dose fall‑off, maximizing tumor control while minimizing exposure to surrounding healthy tissue.
Special Procedures
UW–Madison medical physics researchers in special procedures are developing and refining advanced, highly specialized radiation therapy techniques that require unique delivery methods and rigorous quality assurance to safely treat complex or uncommon clinical cases.
Theranostics and Radiopharmaceutical Therapy
UW–Madison medical physics researchers in theranostics and radiopharmaceutical therapy are developing targeted radioactive drugs that combine cancer imaging and treatment, enabling personalized therapies that deliver radiation directly to tumors throughout the body while sparing healthy tissue.
Treatment Planning
UW–Madison medical physics researchers in treatment planning are developing advanced algorithms, imaging‑informed strategies, and validation methods to optimize radiation dose delivery, enabling more precise, patient‑specific cancer treatments while minimizing exposure to healthy tissue