Tewfik Bichay, PhD and director of Medical Physics at The Lacks Cancer Center at Saint Mary’s recently returned from a three-week consulting trip to the King Faisel Specialist Hospital and Research Center in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia where he assisted in the year-long development of their radiation oncology department, specifically with the implementation of their IMRT (Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy) technology.  

 

I n January 2001, The Lacks Cancer Center at Saint Mary’s became one of the first cancer centers in the US to use the innovative IMRT. Since then, Bichay has become the “go to” person for expertise in using IMRT for the precise treatment of cancerous tumors while protecting the surrounding healthy tissue from the effects of radiation. “With IMRT, radiation beams are broken up into hundreds of beams providing better resolution for targeting the cancer,” said Bichay. 

 

When asked about his work in Saudi Arabia, Bichay commented, “I’ve been working with them via telephone and email for several months to build the infrastructure for IMRT. So, for the three weeks I spent in Jeddah, we (the radiation oncologists and physicists) focused on how to clinically use a linear accelerator with IMRT.”   Bichay added, “We had a very intense schedule of training and all the people with whom I worked were eager to learn.” 

 

One of the learning processes for IMRT, included working with ‘phantom patients’ (mannequins of the human body) implanted with radiation detectors to determine the optimal trajectory and range of intensity for IMRT treatment and to determine “if what they expected to happen actually happened.” Drawing upon Bichay’s vast experience with IMRT, the Jeddah team was able to avoid many of the pitfalls associated with the implementation of new technology.

 

Bichay continues to discover innovative techniques for IMRT. His knowledge and creativity combined with the technology at The Lacks Cancer Center has moved Saint Mary’s to the national and international stage.