Radiographers from the Clatterbridge Centre, Nicky Hutton, Jenny Callender and Danny Hutton were recently awarded Council of Allied Health Professions Research funding from the Cheshire and Merseyside hub.
The award will allow the team to develop their feasibility study, which evaluated the introduction of micro-enemas to reduce rectal volume variation in patients receiving bladder radiotherapy.
The next phase is to quantify the relationship between rectal volume and bladder deformation. This will be done by a retrospective analysis of around 500 Cone Beam CT datasets and comparing to the reference CT dataset.
Using imaging techniques for soft tissue visualisation will allow the team to establish the coincidence of the planned bladder volume and the treatment bladder volume.
“There is potential for improved outcomes for patients,” said Danny Hutton. “Quantifying and reducing the deformation of the bladder may allow an increase in the treatment dose whilst reducing irradiation of healthy tissue, therefore reducing side effects.”
Danny added, “We would encourage colleagues to apply for funding. It’s a really useful exercise to have your proposal and methodology critiqued by experienced researchers to challenge your thinking.”