Radiophysics and Radiological Protection

The service is made up of a team of specialists in hospital radiophysics and dosimetrists that have ample experience. Among other functions, they are responsible for measuring and calculating the absorbed dose of ionising radiation used for diagnosis and treatment.

Thus, by working closely with the Radiation Oncology Department and other services that use ionising radiation, it evaluates the absorbed dose administered to the patient, ensuring that both the diagnosis and treatment meet optimum quality standards.

The IVO radiophysics service avails of a quality management system for all its processes, with the ISO 9001:2015 certification.

Activities and Functions of the Service

In the framework of the specialized medical care, the service also performs the following activities:

Radiation Protection and Safety

One of its major functions focuses on radiation protection and safety in the areas of diagnostic radiology, nuclear medicine and radiation therapy. Its goal, with an emphasis on prevention, is to limit the unwanted biological effects of exposure to ionising radiation in patients, workers with professional exposure and the general public.

Correct Clinical Working Order

Ensure that the equipment and facilities used in diagnostics and radiation treatment are in correct clinical working order.

Analyse

Analyse the medical images derived from computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), as well as those obtained from the positron emission tomography scanner (PET) to adapt them accurately to each patient.

Determine

Determine the impact of this quality on the oncological radiotherapy treatments and on medical images.

In order to carry out its activity, the service has an important provision of equipment for the measurement of ionizing radiation to ensure that the rest of the hospital equipment is properly calibrated

State-of-the-Art Techniques

The Service offers its broad experience in radiotherapy treatment using state-of-the-art techniques in their collaboration with the radiation oncology service. Treatments include the inverse planning and intensity modulation (IMRT), employing a sophisticated software that allows for the implementation of high-precision radiotherapy by using three-dimensional CT, MRI and PET images and modelling a high dose in the tumour, making it much more effective, while protecting the rest of the tissue and reducing the possible complications of the treatment.

There are also HDR and LDR brachytherapy treatments, intracranial radiosurgery (SRS), three-dimensional patient image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) and extracranial or stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT).

Specialised Medical Training

The Instituto Valenciano de Oncología Foundation has an accredited position for specialised medical training in Hospital Radiophysics.