1. science
2. physics

Newsletter
April 2015
Published on behalf of the ACPSEM QLD Branch
acpsemq.org.au
Welcome to the first edition of the ACPSEM QLD Branch Newsletter
CALENDAR
OF EVENTS
PRIMPS 16
End of May – you decide!
25th Annual Local Symposium
and Winter School
28th August, PAH
Brisbane Duck Race
18th October
International Day of Medical
Physics
7th November
EPSM Conference
th
8-12 November, Wellington
PRIMPS 17
for 2015! The last newsletter was released in September last year by the
lovely editing team of Zoë Moutrie and Craig Lancaster. This year the reigns
have been handed over to Emma Inness and Bess Sutherland, who are both
very excited to tell stories to all of the physicists in Queensland.
This edition contains department updates since the last newsletter, kindly
submitted by volunteers from each department. If your department is not
here this time round, don’t waste time asking yourself and your colleagues
“why not” – send us an email with something for the next edition! Our goal
by the end of end of the year is to have updates from ALL departments in
Queensland!!
Also in this newsletter, you will find an intriguing Blast from the Past (page
9), Physics Phun (page 10), and exciting information regarding the Brisbane
Duck Race (page 3). This year also marks the 25th Annual Local Symposium.
The topic for this very special symposium will be Future Innovations in
Healthcare. More information can be found on page 2.
With so few medical physicists, collaboration is imperative to ensure we
have safe, effective, efficient and quality services all over Queensland and
Australia. We hope that we can continue building networks and friendships
between our departments, and share our experiences and knowledge.
Finally, we wish you all a happy and safe Easter, and hope that your QAs go
quickly and smoothly so that you can spend this break with your family and
friends.
If you have any news, ideas, updates, stories or anything of interest
relating to medical physics that you would like to share with the rest of
the QLD medical physics community, please email the editing team:
Emma Inness: emma.inness@health.qld.gov.au
Bess Sutherland: bess.sutherland@genesiscare.com.au
November – TBA
acpsemq.org.au
QLD Branch AGM
December - TBA
Never miss an update with the ACPSEMQ website! Optimised for smart
photons, the website contains all the local branch information you need.
For feedback and suggestions, email the webmaster Scott Crowe on
scott.crowe@health.qld.gov.au
ACPSEMQ Branch Newsletter April 2015
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Support the Duck festival
ACPSEMQ Branch Newsletter April 2015
The following article was written by one of our members, Katrina
Biggerstaff, which brings awareness to an important event which could help
promote our field – Medical Physics!
In October, 2014 I volunteered at the biggest PA foundation fundraising
event: the Support the Duck festival (http://www.supporttheduck.org.au).
The event is targeted at the general public with the slogan “Stop Cancer”
with a push to promote awareness and raise funds for cancer research.
There were plenty of activities for young children and delicious food stalls
all along the river. Cancer survivors, sponsors and doctors were invited to a
VIP area where they could mingle and occasionally come up to give an
inspiring speech on the main stage.
The main event was the Great Brisbane Duck race where thousands of small
rubber ducks (numbered on the bottom) were let loose to float down into
the Brisbane River. The first three ducks to float down a 100m lane had
corresponding ticket numbers of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize winners ($45 000
car, $10 000 boat and trailer and $5000 travel voucher). Alas, I still drive a
Yaris today.
Other races were held throughout the day for bursts of entertainment. There was a race in giant inflatable ducks
between various TV and radio presenters, a race between an inflatable raft of surgeons and another giant inflatable
duck, and two races of motorised and non-motorised rubber ducks which only corporate groups could enter. The whole
day was hosted and broadcasted by 4KQ 693 radio station. My job that day was to sell tickets for the little ducks and
help organise corporate groups who were also fundraising and participating in one of the various races.
So why am I writing this page about a duck race? What’s this got to do with the college newsletter? I believe this event
would be a great opportunity to promote medical physics as a career path and public awareness that it even exists!
During the rafting of surgeons the radio presenter commented on how important these guys were and what a great job
they were doing. That could be us! This could be Queensland’s small contribution towards the goals outlined the
Tripartite National Strategic Plan (http://www.ranzcr.edu.au/about/faculty-of-radiation-oncology/facultyinitiatives/tripartite-strategic-plan-consultation). For some proof that we need to promote ourselves as medical
physicists: I got a picture with a person dressed as Einstein. EINSTEIN! A physicist! I’m thinking they were going with the
thought process of “Research… scientist... Einstein”. Doesn’t that bother you?
The next Support the Duck festival will be held 18th Oct, 2015 in West End. My goal is to have an ACPSEM college
information booth at the event this year and have at least one corporate group participating in the motorized and nonmotorized duck race event (time to put fluid dynamics into play!). Please feel free to contact me if you’d like to be
involved this year and if you have any questions or comments.
Duck race contact info
For further information on the duck race event, or
if you would like to participate, email Katrina
at:katrina.biggerstaff@health.qld.gov.au
3|Page
ACPSEMQ Branch Newsletter April 2015
Update
International Day of Medical Physics – 7th November, 2014
The day was marked at ROQ Toowoomba with cakes brought in by the physics team: a water tank with Markus IC and a
linac (at 180° for structural stability!!).
Staffing Update
Professional Development Activities
ROQ Cairns bid a sad farewell to Sam Towns on
February 13th. He has moved back to his hometown of
Melbourne and we will all miss him heaps. On the plus
side, we welcome Ihab Ramadaan who joins us from
Wellington, NZ. He started with us on February 2nd and
is settling in well.
Talia Jarema attended the ANSTO Advanced Radiation
Safety Officers Course in November, 2014 and travelled
to Barcelona for the ESTRO Dose Modelling and
Verification for External Beam Radiotherapy course in
March, 2015.
ROQ Gold Coast also welcomes Aleksandra Kazi who
moved from 1 day/week to 3 days/week from the start
of March. It is great to have another qualified member
on the team!!
4|Page
Dean Wallace attended the ACPSEM Summer School on
Radiation Shielding/Protection in November, 2014 and
is just returning from his 2nd Line Elekta Physics Training
course in England.
Emmanuel Baveas attended a 1-day course on
functional imaging last month.
ACPSEMQ Branch Newsletter April 2015
Update
Since the last newsletter, the fourth and final new CT scanner was installed at GCCQ Tugun site. Now all GCCQ sites are
equipped with Siemens CT scanners and Physics are enjoying the luxury of having their own CT to QA. Tugun was also
lucky enough to receive the first Varian TrueBeam linear accelerator in Queensland. Although there was a learning curve
to figure out this magnificent piece of technology, all staff (particularly Physics) were very excited and eager to learn.
Out with the old, in with the new as renovations and
rebranding continue across all sites. Currently Tugun is
being bought into the 21st century and we look
forward to sharing those photos with you. This
particular beauty to the right was found during clean
up, it’s older than one of our physicists!
Late last year GCCQ welcomed Mark West to the
team. He didn’t take long to settle in, diving straight
into his first project – the Wesley TrueBeam. GCCQ
also welcomes back Trent Aland, the beloved
ACPSEMQ Chairperson 2012-2013. We are particularly
excited to have Trent back on board for both his
physics knowledge and nutritional advice.
5|Page
ACPSEMQ Branch Newsletter April 2015
Update
Oceania Oncology is very excited to finally open our
Fraser Coast Centre in Hervey Bay. We started treating
patients earlier this year after months of commissioning
and site setup. With Hennie Smit coming over from South
Africa and Yang Wang coming up from NSW along with
Onno, Dan and Kurt from Oceania Oncology, it was a
packed control room, especially considering the chairs
had not arrived yet. Highlights of the commissioning
include climbing onto the roof of the building to do the
survey and a door being built to block access to the empty
bunker which trapped the water tank inside. The new
centre contains an Elekta Synergy linac and is being
looked after by Onno and Daniel.
The Fraser Coast centre is already treating close to 30 patients per day, over 60% of which are IMRT, and saving a daily
three hour round trip for those patients of ours who started treatment at the Bundaberg clinic. We very much welcome
any of our fellow physicists from around QLD to join us at the grand opening to be held in the coming months - details
to be announced soon.
We have also welcomed Yousif to our physics team in November who many of you may have met at the last PRIMPS.
6|Page
ACPSEMQ Branch Newsletter April 2015
Update
With the end of 2014 came many personal and departmental achievements for the PA Hospital. In particular, four staff
members became certified ROMPs (Vaughan Moutrie, Catherine Jones, Ben Harris, and Emma Inness). This called for a
physics pub crawl via means of a citicat around Brisbane CBD. Thanks to everyone who came along – it was a great day
out!
The last event of 2014, was the
departmental Christmas party, where
physics was in charge of organising drinks
for the event. In true physics form, an old
watertank was used as the ‘esky ‘ for the
day, much to the amusement of the whole
department. It was such a success that it
earned its place back in our store room,
where it will wait until Xmas 2015.
On the 18th January, Eva Liu gave birth to a
healthy, 2.8kg, baby girl, Maia. This
corresponded well with Peta Hanlon’s
return from Maternity leave in March.
Congratulations Eva, & welcome back Peta!
In academic news, Paul Charles took on a 3 year adjunct position at QUT
(at the level of Associate Professor) - we are looking forward to all the
new and exciting projects Paul can assist us with. Salma Ibrahim also
completed her Masters in Medical Physics over the Summer Semester,
with a research project in small field dosimetry – Congratulations Salma!
Publishing in a clinical environment can be difficult, so we are very happy
to share the good news that the PA has had two first author, and two
second author, publications accepted for print since the last Newsletter.
Feel free to contact any of the authors for further details!
•
Herwiningsih S, Hanlon P, Fielding A (2014) Sensitivity of an Elekta iView GT a-Si
EPID model to delivery errors for pre-treatment verification of IMRT fields
Australas Phys Eng Sci Med 37(4):763-770.
•
Kairn T, Charles PH, Cranmer-Sargison G, Crowe SB, Langton CM, Thwaites DI,
Trapp JV (2015) Clinical use of diodes and micro-chambers to obtain accurate
small field output factor measurements. Australas Phys Eng Sci Med (In Press)
•
Moutrie V, Kairn T, Rosenfeld A, Charles (2015) Use of a megavoltage electronic
portal imaging device to identify prosthetic materials. Australas Phys Eng Sci
Med (In Press)
•
Charles PH, Cranmer-Sargison G, Thwaites DI, Kairn T, Crowe SB, Pedrazzini G,
Aland T, Kenny J, Langton CM, Trapp JV (2014) Design and experimental testing
of air slab caps which convert commercial electron diodes into dual purpose,
correction-free diodes for small field dosimetry. Med Phys 41(10): 101701
7|Page
ACPSEMQ Branch Newsletter April 2015
Welcome and Goodbye
Additional to the previous updates, the ACPSEMQ would like to acknowledge the following staff changes around the
state. If your department has recently welcomed or farewelled anyone, please send your updates to the editing team
for inclusion into the next newsletter.
•
•
Jacqui Charles has left RBWH to pursue other
interests (that aren’t physics). Jacqui has been a
long term staff member at RBWH and was a cofounder of PRIMPS. She can’t escape the
physics world completely so we look forward to
seeing her at future events that Paul drags her
along to.
Scott Crowe has taken up a research position at
RBWH, which is very exciting for the team
there, but also very sad for QUT. We’re looking
forward to seeing (even more) great work from
Scott in the months and years to come.
February saw the inter-state departure of Zoë and Vaughan
from QLD Health to Genesis CancerCare NSW. Zoë has been
a valuable committee member of ACPSEM-Q for five years,
two of which were spent as treasurer. Her hard work and
commitment hasn’t gone unnoticed and her contributions
will be missed this year. Queensland physicists and RTs
came together to farewell Zoë and Vaughan in a pub crawl,
starting at the Pineapple Hotel, followed by the German
Club, and then the Chalk Hotel. The day/evening was a
successful one, with the boys enjoying the Socceroos
victorious 2-1 win over South Korea in extra time at the
Asian cup final. There was much beer, champagne, shots,
and cocktails consumed; the photo was taken at the time
of the first shot, and shows Vaughan in good ‘spirits’. We
wish Zoë, at the Mater, and Vaughan, at Macquarie, all the
best in their future endeavours!
8|Page
•
•
The PAH welcomed Miriam Barry in November,
and Luke Webb in January. Miriam has previous
experience in the UK, and is with us for 6
months in collaboration with QUT to carry out a
research post. Luke recently completed his
Masters at QUT, and is actively involved in the
department
The PAH farewell Benjamin Harris, who has
joined the team at Austin Health in Melbourne.
Ben successfully completed his Part A & B TEAP
exams in December. The staff at PAH wish him
well in an accredited role in Victoria.
Blast from the Past
ACPSEMQ Branch Newsletter April 2015
The following is an excerpt from the
Queensland Branch Newsletter
No. 1 – 1995.
9|Page
ACPSEMQ Branch Newsletter April 2015
Physics Phun
For our Easter edition of the Newsletter we have decided
to include a “Medical Physics” relevant crossword that
we’re sure you will all love to do over the Easter break
(once your QA is finished of course!) whilst eating lots of
chocolate eggs and hot cross buns! The first person to
complete the crossword and send it back to the editors
will win a prize, and will be announced in the next edition
of the Newsletter, along with the answers.
Food for thought
Have Phun, and Happy Easter!!
Not only does the Varian TrueBeam have two light bulbs, but the
light source does not rotate with the collimator. How would YOU
check it?
Across
1. Recommended chamber for electron calibration _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ plate (8)
2. Produced by a linac, may be used to treat superficial
lesions (9)
3. Massless particle (7)
4. Cavity theory that provides relationship between
absorbed dose in a chamber and the dose in the
medium containing the chamber (5-4)
5. Inplane, crossplane, diagonal (7)
6. Part of a kV tube, which emits electrons when heated (7)
7. Become a problem when shielding energies above 10
MV (8)
3
1
2
1
2
4
3
4
5
6
5
Down
1. 100 ⁄ (8)
2. 100 ⁄ (8)
3. Type of penumbra due to radiation through jaws
(12)
4. More sensitive than a PDD to energy changes in
a photon beam: diagonal _ _ _ _ _ (5)
5. Type of penumbra due to finite source size (9)
6. PTV: Planning _ _ _ _ _ _ Volume (6)
7. Effect seen in kV units due to x-rays being
produced at various depths in the target (4)
10 | P a g e
6
7
7