Division of Health Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine
Until my master's program, I was engaged in research on the theory of elementary particle nuclei. From the doctoral program, he has been conducting research to apply the knowledge he gained from his master's program to medicine.
In Japan, the total number of cancer cases and deaths in FY2019 is about 900,000 and 400,000, respectively, and one out of every two people in Japan will die from cancer. There are three main types of treatment for cancer: surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. Radiation therapy is less invasive and less stressful on the body than other treatment methods, allowing treatment while maintaining quality of life (QOL).
Proton therapy, a type of radiation therapy, is highly dose-concentrating, and misalignment of proton stops may lead to increased damage to normal tissues or decreased dose to the tumor. Proton irradiation causes self-activation in the body, producing positron-emitting nuclei. The distribution of positron-emitting nuclei is visualized as a two-dimensional PET image using an opposing dual-plane PET (Positron Emission Tomography) device installed on the beamline, which allows us to confirm the stopping position of the protons irradiated to the patient and the dose distribution (i.e., the energy given). We are developing a method to confirm the stopping position of protons irradiated to the patient and the dose distribution, which is the energy given to the patient.