You are here: nl » Congressen en Seminars » Conference Operations Research & Health Care 2008 » Abstracts Plenary Speakers » Plenary Björn Hårdemark
Print this page

Plenary Björn Hårdemark

Title:
Application of Operations Research in Advanced software in Radiotherapy

Abstract:

Professor Romeijn has given the background on external beam radiation therapy and described some optimization techniques used for producing treatment plans. In this talk, I will show how these and other methods are used in a treatment planning system and go through some of the mathematical difficulties related to the optimization procedures. Starting out in what has become known as ‘traditional’ IMRT optimization, i.e. fluence optimization, I will demonstrate some of its strengths and weaknesses and show how direct machine parameter optimization solves many problems. I will also briefly show what we refer to as ‘dose tracking’ where the deposited dose is tracked in a deforming patient geometry. This process involves solving optimization problems for finding the surfaces of the organs in the new geometries, and to find an elastic deformation of all tissue.

Biography:
Björn Hårdemark came into contact with RaySearch in his final years at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, where he studied physics. He had taken a survey course in medicine so he wanted to do his thesis-related traineeship at a company involved in medical technology. The year was 2002. Today Björn is the project manager of RaySearch’s  collaboration project with Varian and has been on an eventful journey with the company to date.“Since I came on board at a time when RaySearch's operations were barely out of the gate, I was able to experience just about everything right from my first day at work. The discussions I’ve been involved in have often influenced the course the Company decided to take. Even though I’ve only worked here for six years, I am one of the ones who have been with the organization the longest, so I’ve developed expertise in several areas. Consequently, I spend a lot of my time acting as sounding board for my colleagues and for the business partners and clinics with which we cooperate. I feel appreciated and needed both inside and outside the organization,” says Björn.Björn spent his initial period in research in the research department where he worked with various application issues. With the help of the knowledge he acquired there, he made a lateral move to the development department so that, working with one of RaySearch’s partners, he could translate the research results into new products.And here he is today, the project manager. According to Björn, the best thing about the work is that it is specifically defined, in that he is involved in the entire process from the derivatives of the various optimization functions to the action of specific machinery components in the treatment room.“All in all, it’s very hands-on,” he says. “The results of our algorithm development have been implemented at hundreds of clinics used by people in real-life medicine. That is really something,” he says.

^ Top