Tachycardia describes a physiological condition where one's heart beats faster than 100 beats per minute. Tachycardia can normally appear due to exercise or because of serious conditions, such as ventricular fibrillation or ventricular tachycardia that require immediate treatment. Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) is traditionally utilized for targeted cancer treatment in various organs. The feasibility of employing SBRT for cardiac applications is under investigation, particularly in treating conditions such as persistent tachycardia that cannot be treated otherwise. This exploration into its potential use on the heart involves assessing the safety and efficacy of delivering focused, high doses of radiation to cardiac tissues.
The study aims to determine whether SBRT could offer a viable therapeutic option for treating tachycardia, expanding SBRT beyond oncology. This research holds promise for enhancing our understanding of the potential benefits and challenges of utilizing SBRT in cardiac interventions. To study the effects of tachycardia on the radiotherapy treatment (and vice versa), an MR-compatible heart phantom and actuation system previously developed must be refined and investigated further.
**Prerequisites:**
- Hands-on experience with hardware development
- interested in experimental work
- MATLAB
- Programming with Arduino
- knowledge about fluid dynamics, radiation therapy or medical imaging are a plus)
Tachycardia describes a physiological condition where one's heart beats faster than 100 beats per minute. Tachycardia can normally appear due to exercise or because of serious conditions, such as ventricular fibrillation or ventricular tachycardia that require immediate treatment. Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) is traditionally utilized for targeted cancer treatment in various organs. The feasibility of employing SBRT for cardiac applications is under investigation, particularly in treating conditions such as persistent tachycardia that cannot be treated otherwise. This exploration into its potential use on the heart involves assessing the safety and efficacy of delivering focused, high doses of radiation to cardiac tissues. The study aims to determine whether SBRT could offer a viable therapeutic option for treating tachycardia, expanding SBRT beyond oncology. This research holds promise for enhancing our understanding of the potential benefits and challenges of utilizing SBRT in cardiac interventions. To study the effects of tachycardia on the radiotherapy treatment (and vice versa), an MR-compatible heart phantom and actuation system previously developed must be refined and investigated further.
**Prerequisites:**
- Hands-on experience with hardware development - interested in experimental work - MATLAB - Programming with Arduino - knowledge about fluid dynamics, radiation therapy or medical imaging are a plus)
- Familiarizing with the hardware and software setup that mimics a beating heart.
- The actuation system shall be improved and characterized in vitro before and after the upgrade regarding the volume change in the heart phantom and compared to the physiological volume change generated.
- The actuation software on Arduino and Matlab which control the linear motors shall be adjusted to improve the accuracy of the volume change generated by the actuation system.
- The radiation of a radiotherapy treatment will be measured in the beating heart phantom with dosimetric film (2-dimensional measurement) and with plastic scintillators (time-resolved 1-dimensional measurement) to evaluate the effect of the heartbeat on the accumulated dose in the treatment area. These measurements will be conducted on the MR-Linac of the University Hospital Zurich.
- Familiarizing with the hardware and software setup that mimics a beating heart. - The actuation system shall be improved and characterized in vitro before and after the upgrade regarding the volume change in the heart phantom and compared to the physiological volume change generated. - The actuation software on Arduino and Matlab which control the linear motors shall be adjusted to improve the accuracy of the volume change generated by the actuation system. - The radiation of a radiotherapy treatment will be measured in the beating heart phantom with dosimetric film (2-dimensional measurement) and with plastic scintillators (time-resolved 1-dimensional measurement) to evaluate the effect of the heartbeat on the accumulated dose in the treatment area. These measurements will be conducted on the MR-Linac of the University Hospital Zurich.