Barbara Vanderstraeten

Barbara Vanderstraeten earned her master's degree in engineering physics with the greatest distinction from the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture at Ghent University in 2003. Her master’s thesis was dedicated to the trade-off between dose and image quality for computed tomography in children.
Between 2003 and 2007, she carried out her PhD in Medical Sciences as an FWO fellow (Aspirant) at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at UGent. Her dissertation presented a novel technological development in radiation therapy treatment planning of head and neck cancer based on biological imaging information, also referred to as dose painting. Today, she combines her appointment as Associate Professor in the field of Quality and Clinical Engineering at UGent with her clinical role as a Medical Physics Expert at the department of Radiation Oncology at Ghent University Hospital.

As an expert in medical radiation physics, her goal is to accurately determine the radiation dose delivered to patients and to improve the quality of radiotherapy treatments, also using the technical and computer skills related to her engineering background. 
Her particular research interests include: 

• Biological effects of radiation on tumor cells and healthy tissues
• AI and automation of processes in radiotherapy
• Cost calculations in radiotherapy, e.g. for the purpose of cost-effectiveness analyses
• Adaptive radiotherapy (ART), where treatment is adjusted over time based on anatomical and/or biological changes in the tumor or surrounding healthy tissues
• "Dose painting" and the use of biological and functional imaging in radiotherapy

Her expertise covers radiotherapy technology (linear accelerators for photon therapy: IMRT, VMAT and SBRT) as well as medical imaging and software (for dose calculation and optimization of treatment planning). She has extensive experience in head and neck cancer, prostate cancer, lung cancer and oligometatastic disease, but is also open to research on other tumor types. 

Domains of expertise

• Medical physics
• Medical imaging
• Radiation oncology
• Medical dosimetry

Selected projects and research platforms

ARCHERY

The aim of ARCHERY is to determine whether an AI software called the Radiation Planning Assistant (RPA) can plan suitable radiotherapy for cervical, head and neck, and prostate cancers, and whether this method of planning treatment is faster and more cost efficient than traditional approaches. The primary aim of ARCHERY is to see whether this AI based automated radiotherapy planning can be used in low- and middle-income countries to expand the availability of effective radiotherapy treatment.
https://archery.mrcctu.ucl.ac.uk/

Adaptive radiotherapy for oligometastic disease: a value assessment

While online adaptive radiotherapy (oART) has proven to be technically feasible and clinical trials to demonstrate the benefits for patients are ongoing, the related logistical and financial issues currently remain unaddressed. In this climate of clinical uncertainty, many hospitals remain reluctant to embrace oART because of the upfront capital investment and educational needs, the operational impact on workload, human resources and possibly associated task shifts, while reimbursement is still absent or inadequate. From a societal and policy perspective, the European recommendations on how to support reimbursement for radiotherapy innovations advocate the generation of relevant clinical and economic data, also collected from real life, that reflect the true costs of evidence-based practice. Moreover, time-driven activity-based costing is proposed as the most optimal approach to evaluate the cost and resource use of new interventions.

To support the translation between clinical research and adoption in daily practice, this project aims to provide insight into the cost aspects of oART within the bigger picture of current radiotherapy practice, the possible impact on outcome, relevant for both providers and policy makers, and knowledge and tools related to the practical implementation of an oART workflow and training of the professionals involved.