Eu-project Uplift

**Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf e.V.**:
Project description

Proton therapy is an emerging radiation therapy technique to deliver highly-targeted doses with ionizing radiation beams to cancer patients with improved sparing of healthy surrounding tissues and reduced toxicity compared to conventional photon beam radiotherapy. While traditionally patients are irradiated in supine position, with the radiation beam being rotated around the patient to target the tumour volume from multiple angles, recent technological developments have made it possible to do the opposite. Instead of using bulky equipment to rotate the radiation beam around the patient, robotics has made it possible to rotate the patient in upright position relative to a stationary beam generated by compact equipment. This not only saves costs and space, but also improves system reliability and increases patient comfort.
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has the capability to provide unrivalled soft-tissue contrast images in real-time. However, the development of in-beam MRI for proton therapy has only recently started and not yet reached technical maturity to be introduced into the clinic. Recently, a unique, whole-body in-beam MRI device has been installed at HZDR/OncoRay in Dresden (Germany). By means of the rotating, open-bore magnet, this device offers the possibility to scan and irradiate patients in both recumbent and upright posture. Upright patient positioning in this device is challenging from a technical, ergonomical and workflow point-of-view.

EU-Project UPLIFT - Project 10: Upright immobilization and positioning

English

**Working field**:
Objective

The aim of this project is to optimize an upright patient positioning system (UPPS) to be used inside the inbeam MRI device with respect to both patient comfort and immobilization. An inclusive design of an MR-compatible UPPS for a future clinical upright MR-integrated proton therapy system should be developed.

Tasks
- To assemble key anthropometric and mobility data for different patient subgroups. To consider relevant patient demographics for the highest patient inclusivity in the development of bespoke immobilization devices to be used for different patient postures in the upright position. To consider occupational health of the staff to achieve an ergonomic workflow with the UPPS. To study and verify the positional accuracy of said immobilization devices in the in-beam MRI device at HZDR/OncoRay.

**Requirements**:

- Higher education in Mechanical Engineering or a related field
- Proficiency in spoken and written English
- Proven experience in ergonomics, mechanical concept creation, and CAD software is highly desirable
- Excellent problem-solving skills, academic writing skills, and communication skills
- Ability to work independently as well as in a team

**How to apply**: