A board-certified radiation oncologist, Mary Kara Bucci, MD treats patients at the New Mexico Cancer Center in Albuquerque. Honored as one of America’s Top Oncologists three times, Dr. Mary Kara Bucci has published multiple articles in medical journals, including a 2009 article she co-authored on using a four-dimensional computed tomography (4DCT) to plan radiation treatments.
A method for obtaining CT scans of each respiratory phase, 4DCT has potential benefits for radiation treatment planning, according to the article titled The Use of 4DCT to Reduce Lung Dose: a Dosimetric Analysis, published in Medical Dosimetry, the journal of the American Association of Medical Dosimetrists. Specifically, 4DCT scanning offers valuable information on tumor movement within the lung, which permits surgeons to adjust their radiation margins based on natural breathing movements.
Although the custom motion margins 4DCT imaging facilitates may include normal lung tissue in the radiation field, researchers believe this method is more precise than using generic motion margins. The report concludes by encouraging future dosimetry research that examines free-breathing patients with both traditional CT and 4DCT imaging to assess changes in normal lung radiotherapy doses.
Mary Kara Bucci 