The TOPAS development team is offering the free online course “Monte Carlo simulation in medicine with TOPAS,” May 25-27, 2022.
Registration is now CLOSED as we have exceeded our capacity of 50 students. Format/Educational methods: A 16½ hour online course with lectures and practical examples divided evenly over three days (5½ hours a day, with a 15-minute break). The students will use the TOPAS system hands-on to simulate the examples shown by the instructors and observe the effect of changing parameters used in the different simulations.
Target audience: Medical physicists with basic knowledge of Monte Carlo simulations. The course is designed for new as well as experienced TOPAS users.
Requirement: Before you attend the 3-day course, you are expected to have already completed the separate 2-hour online course, "Introduction to TOPAS," You are also expected to have already installed Topas version 3.7 or newer (which you can only do after you have completed the "Introduction to TOPAS"). Register for "Introduction to TOPAS" at topasmc.org/registration. The above link is NOT to sign up for this 3 day course. Registration for the 3 Day course has reached capacity and that course is now closed.
Course objectives: To provide the background necessary for participants to reliably use the TOPAS Tool for Particle Simulation for Monte Carlo simulation in medicine. Participants will learn the fundamentals of the Monte Carlo method and its application in medicine, with focus on external beam radiotherapy. They will then learn through lectures and examples how TOPAS provides a simple, effective means to access the Geant4 Monte Carlo toolkit. Participants will leave the course with practical knowledge on how to use TOPAS for their own application.
Registration fee: There is no registration fee for this on-line course.
Registration period: April 27, 2022 at 9 am Pacific Time, closing when we reach 50 participants on a first come, first served basis. This course has reached capacity and registration has been closed
Activity location: The course will be given online. The instructors and their institutions are listed below.
Zoom: Zoom login information and password will be distributed to registered participants by November 6, 2021, prior to the start of the course.
Sources of support: This course is partially supported by NIH grant U24CA215123.
Contact: Bruce Faddegon, Bruce.Faddegon@ucsf.edu
Instructors: • Jhonatan Carrasco Hernandez, Ph.D., TOPAS Developer, UCSF (Jhonatan)
Day 1 (Wednesday May 25, 2022) Introduction to Monte Carlo and TOPAS simulation of x-ray and electron therapy 9:00 am Overview: MC simulation in medicine with TOPAS (Joseph) 9:15 am Lecture 1 - Review of fundamentals of the Monte Carlo method (Jose) 10:00 am Lecture 2 - Monte Carlo in x-ray and electron therapy (Bruce) 10:45 am Lecture 3 - TOPAS advanced capabilities, Part I (Joseph) 11:15 am Example 1 - Linac treatment head simulation (Jhonatan) 12:15 pm Break 12:30 pm Example 2 - Variance reduction for a generic x-ray linac (Jose) 1:30 pm Example 3 - Extensions (Jan) 2:30 pm Adjourn - Participants work on problems from example sessions Day 2 (Thursday May 26, 2022) TOPAS simulation of proton therapy 9:00 am Breakout sessions: Examples 1-3 (Jhonatan, Jose, Jan) 10:15 am Lecture 4 - Monte Carlo in proton therapy (Harald) 11:00 am Example 4 - Importing patient CT in DICOM format (Alejandro) 12:00 pm Break 12:15 pm Example 5 - Using Time Features to rotate a range modulator (Joseph) 1:15 pm Example 6 - Proton patient dose, LET and RBE calculation using pre-made extensions (Jan) 2:30 pm Adjourn – Participants work on problems from example sessions Day 3 (Friday May 27, 2022) TOPAS advanced capabilities and examples 9:00 am Breakout session: Examples 4-6 (Alejandro, Joseph, Jan) 10:15 am Lecture 5 - Geant4 and TOPAS (Jan) 11:00 am Lecture 6 - TOPAS advanced capabilities, Part II (Joseph) 12:00 pm Break 12:15 pm Example 7 - Using Time Features to create a scanning beam (Joseph) 1:15 pm Example 8 - TOPAS-nBio advanced extension (Aimee) 2:30 pm Adjourn
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