Program Information

Science, Educational and Professional Program

Pocket Program (as PDF) [11.3MB] Meeting Program-At-A-Glance (as PDF) Session/Meeting Rooms Map (Click on floorplan below above for full size PDF.) View All Sessions AAPM Chapters - History Presentations (Displayed Sunday thru Thursday) Review Courses Diagnostic Therapy By Day Sunday, July 29, 2012 Monday, July 30, 2012 Tuesday, July 31, 2012 Wednesday, August 1, 2012 Thursday, August 2, 2012 Symposia Education Council Symposium History Imaging Joint Imaging - Therapy President's Symposium Professional Therapy Young Investigators Symposium

Educational Courses Imaging Therapy Best in Physics (View Selected Abstracts) Imaging Joint Imaging - Therapy Therapy Interactive Sessions Imaging Scientific Joint Imaging - Therapy Scientific Professional Therapy Educational Therapy Scientific SAMs Symposia (Self Assessment Module and pre-registration info) Imaging Educational Joint Imaging - Therapy Scientific Therapy Educational Proferred Sessions Imaging Joint Imaging - Therapy Therapy General Poster Discussion Displays Education Imaging Joint Imaging - Therapy Therapy Short Orals Imaging Joint Imaging - Therapy Therapy Specialty Practical Medical Physics Innovations in Medical Physics Education Search Index to Authors Search by Title, Author, Institution or Full Text

Society Oriented Sessions - Make Plans to Attend

• New Member Symposium
• Society of Directors of Academic Medical Physics Programs (Annual Meeting and Business Meeting)
• Annual Business and Town Hall Meeting

Program Information

New for the 2012 Program:

• Supporting Documents will be limited to figures and captions and number of pages allowed have changed for the following submissions: Young Investigator Supporting Document - 2 pages; Junior Investigator Supporting Document - 2 pages; John S. Laughlin – Science Council Research Suppporting Document - 2 pages; and Proffered Supporting Document - 1 page
• Expanded SAMS offerings.
• New session formats, including debates and panel discussions.
• Increased dawn-to-dusk content in scientific and educational tracks.
• Expanded scientific content in imaging (all modalities), image-guided therapy (radiation therapy and minimally invasive interventions), and therapy physics (including novel arc therapies, proton therapy, and targeted radionuclides).

The following topics will be offered during the meeting:

Imaging Track

The 2012 Imaging Track will explore several excellent topics that explore near and far term future directions of medical physics research and innovation. Scientific symposia will include the following general topics: State of the Art In Quantitative Imaging (involving CT, PET and MRI); Assessment of Image Quality in CT – present and future; Computer-Aided Diagnosis: Performance Evaluation, User Training and QA issues; Approaches for significant dose reduction in Fluoroscopy, Recent Advances in Molecular Imaging and others.

Therapy Track

The 2012 Therapy Track will showcase the current hot topics in therapy but all show potential future directions of medical physics research and innovation. Symposia will include thefollowing general topics: recent advances in outcome modeling, proton therapy, biophysical modeling, new concepts in treatment planning, image-guided andadaptive radiotherapy,imaging for treatment assessment and others.

Joint Imaging-Therapy Track

The 2012 Joint Imaging-Therapy Track will feature exciting topics highlighting the collaborative efforts between imaging and therapy medical physics. This track will include the following topics: a lively debate on the future of adaptive radiation therapy, risks and realities of radiation in imaging, treatment assessment using MR, advances in image guided therapy, and advances in molecular imaging.

Educational Course - Imaging Track

There will be 36 hours of imaging education offeredat AAPM 2012, including8 hours of SAMS. The scheduling of the imaging education sessions has beenrearranged to minimize the number of overlapping lectures, with educational content available both morning and afternoon onMonday - Thursday. An emphasis will be placed on practical content to support the needs of the clinical diagnostic medical physicist. CE credits will be available in CT, MR, Nuclear Medicine, and Mammography to meet accreditation requirements. Sessions will cover newer clinicaltechnology such as tomosynthesis, and last year's popularsession on medical radiation risk will be repeated with the latest information.

Educational Course - Therapy Track

The Therapy Physics CE series will feature a total of 31 hours of educational lectures.This year our goal is toincrease interactivity and quality of the education programs: most educational courses will use audio response systems (ARS) for audience feedback.The emphasis of the program will be on safe and effective use of new technologies addressing the current issues in clinical practice. The programis designed to address the broad educational needs of our membership and will include topics in SRS, SBRT, IGRT, IMRT, VMAT, QA and safety, brachytherapy, electron and proton therapies as well as radiobiology. The program will feature five SAM sessions and several new courses including 'unsettled issues in the radiobiology of hypofractionation and PET-guided treatment planning', "electron therapy: past, present and future", and "the emerging role of image guidance for breast radiotherapy". The 4D IMRT and the role of image guidance, review of radiobiological principles, the use and QA of biologically related models for treatment planning,inclusion of imaging dose in radiation therapy planning, initiating an IGRT program, safety issues in radiation therapy physics, radiation related second cancers, and the dosimetry of HDR; present status and future direction are few examples of the courses that the therapy educational program will feature this year.

Practical Medical Physics Track

To be provided.

Professional Track

The Professional Track continues to grow in depth and breadth to keep our members abreast of the latest professionally-related developments. Topics this year cover both clinical and research aspects of our profession. To be included in the track are: news on ABR 2014 requirements, a session on preparing for therapy ACR accreditation, PQI, Practice Guidelines, Ethics, Publishing, Journal Article Review, Economics of Light Ion Teletherapy and two symposia on international medical physics.

John S. Laughlin Science Council Research Symposium

Topic: Imaging for Therapy Assessment – Understanding response to therapy is a cornerstone in optimizing patient therapy to achieve optimal clinical outcome. Determining response during the course of therapy provides means for treatment adaptation. In addition, searching for new therapies is growing more complex with the availability of patient-specific genetic information and extensive incorporation of various biomarkers. Furthermore, with novel molecular targeted therapies the response to therapy may not be observed at the same magnitude or speed on radiographic images as it used to be. A clear need exists to develop and qualify more sensitive and specific quantitative imaging techniques as surrogate biomarkers for ever-growing numbers of clinical trials and routine clinical practice.

Innovations in Medical Physics Education

The Education Council of the AAPM will be sponsoring the Innovations in Medical Physics Education symposium to honor and publicize innovations in Medical Physics Education. AAPM members are invited to submit a one page description of innovative medical physics educational activities for radiology residents, radiation oncology residents, medical physicists, technologists or others. The projects can be scientific research, novel teaching strategies – team teaching or adult learning efforts, novel educational materials – lectures, websites, or other innovations.

The top six submissions will be invited to present their projects at the symposium during the 2012 AAPM annual meeting in Charlotte, NC. Each speaker will be allocated 15 minutes.

The top project will be presented a plaque and a prize of $2,000. Additional honorable mention plaques may be awarded. Unfortunately no travel support is available. The deadline for submissions is March 1, 2012. Selected submissions will be notified by April 16, 2012.

How the Meeting is Organized

The numbering scheme encodes the day, time block, room assignment and talk number in the abstract presentation code. The organization for each day (Monday - Thursday) is shown in the table below. Times and Rooms vary on Sunday and Thursday. For example, on Monday:

MO - C - BRCD - 1
Day of Week (SU - TH) - Time Block (A - G) - Room Assignment - Talk Number

TIME BLOCK	SESSION ROOMS
	211	213AB	BRCD	BRB	BRA	213CD	217BCD	217A	218
Block A 8:00 - 8:55	A-211	A-213AB	A-BRCD	A-BRB	A-BRA	A-213CD	A-217BCD	A-217A	A-218
Block B 9:00 - 9:55	B-211	B-213AB	B-BRCD	B-BRB	B-BRA	B-213CD	B-217BCD	B-217A	B-218
Break 10:00 – 10:30
Block C 10:30 - 11:25	C-211	C-213AB	C-BRCD	C-BRB	C-BRA	C-213CD	C-217BCD	C-217A	C-218
Block D 11:30 - 12:30	D-211	D-213AB	D-BRCD	D-BRB	D-BRA	D-213CD	D-217BCD	D-217A	D-218
Lunch + Visit the Technical Exhibits 12:30 – 2:00
Block E 2:00 - 2:55	E-211	E-213AB	E-BRCD	E-BRB	E-BRA	E-213CD	E-217BCD	E-217A	E-218
... and so on.

The general layout of rooms for various programs is as follows, although there are numerous exceptions throughout the week, so check the program carefully:

• Therapy (Education and Scientific): Rooms 211, 213AB, Ballroom B (BRB), and Ballroom CD (BRCD)
• Imaging (Education and Scientific): Rooms 213 CD, 217A, 217 BCD, and 218
• Joint Imaging-Therapy: Ballroom A (BRA) and Room 213CD
• Professional: Room 211
• Practical Medical Physics: Room 218

Items of Note:

• Short Oral Sessions. A fast-paced short oral presentation format. Watch for the new short oral sessions on Sunday (Time Blocks C and D) and Monday (Time Blocks F and G).
• Interactive Sessions. A total of 12 interactive sessions are scheduled. Audience members can participate ‘real time’ in presentations or lectures by submitting responses to interactive questions using a rented hand‐held computer device.
• Young Investigators Symposium. The YIS is on Sunday, 4:00 – 6:00 pm, in Ballroom CD.
• Best in Physics. The top 15 abstracts from the Therapy, Joint, and Imaging scientific programs are featured in large posters on display in the “BIP” theatres in the Technical Exhibits area. Meet the authors on Sunday, 3:30 – 4:00 pm in the BIP Theatres. The posters will be on display during regular hours of the Technical Exhibits.
• President’s Symposium. This symposium runs unparalleled on Monday, 10:30 am – 12:30 pm.
• The John S. Laughlin – Science Council Research Symposium. This proffered symposium of abstracts on a topic of special relevance is scheduled for Wednesday, 10:30 am – 12:30 pm, in Ballroom A.
• Innovations in Medical Physics Education Symposium. This proffered symposium of abstracts is scheduled for Wednesday, 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm, in Ballroom A.

How the Sessions are Defined

Science Program

Scientific Session - These sessions comprise the bulk of the scientific program, in which the best-scored proffered abstracts are presented in a regular oral presentation format. Each session is on one or several specific scientific topics, with several oral presentations [10 min each (8 min talk + 2 min Q&A)].

Symposium - A symposium is a topical session focusing on a current topic related to pioneering or state-of-the-art research and development of medical physics. The symposia often include multiple speakers, some of them invited, to speak on the topic. Some symposia will include a panel discussion aiming to define the current state of the field and to distill the thinking of the experts.

Short Oral Sessions – Similar to regular Scientific Sessions, the Short Oral Sessions feature high-scoring proffered abstracts presented in an accelerated presentation format (5 min each with Q&A at the end of the session).

General Poster Discussion Session - This category includes the accepted proffered abstracts that are not associated with oral or short oral presentations. The materials are judged to be of high scientific quality and merit presentation at the annual meeting. Authors will be present during the scheduled session in order to interact with meeting attendees.

Educational Program

Education Council Symposium - This symposium is designed to update our members on the various activities of the Education Council. Emphasis is placed on the resources and programs that are available to enhance the skills of our members as well as resources that are available through the Association to assist our members when presenting programs to related health professionals and the public.

Educational Courses – The Educational Program consists of courses in two major areas: Radiation Oncology Physics (25 sessions) and Diagnostic Imaging Physics (31 lectures).

The Therapy Physics Educational Program will feature basic and advanced courses on the physics of radiation oncology and treatment practices including TG-51 calibration, QA and Safety, Monte Carlo, dosimetry of small fields, proton therapy, and radiobiology for radiotherapy, Image Guided Radiotherapy (IGRT), as well as special clinical procedures including, Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy (SBRT), Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS) and brachytherapy. The goal is to promote a more balanced learning experience for all levels of participants including students, physics residents, and junior physicists as well as more experienced physicists. To this end, the courses such as “Review of Radiobiological Principles of Radiotherapy and Radiation Protection” and “Radiation-Related Second Cancers” are intended to cover more fundamental and basic radiobiological concepts, while the SAM session on “Unsettled Issues in the Radiobiology of Emergent Technology: Hypofractionation and PET-Guided Treatment Planning” is intended to provide a review of more advanced and emergent topics in radiobiology of radiotherapy. This year educational program will feature several more interactive sessions in addition to SAMs.

The Diagnostic Imaging courses cover the physics and technology of multiple diagnostic imaging modalities including: CT, MRI, ultrasound, radiography/fluoroscopy, radionuclide, and mammography as well as courses on informatics, radiation safety and risk management. These courses are excellent updates for the practicing medical physicist and provide opportunities for younger physicists to learn from the top experts in the field.

Professional Program

Professional Council Symposia – Symposia including the Professional Council Sunday Symposium are focused on current topics that involve the professional practice of medical physics. Subjects may range over all aspects of practice such as legal issues, government affairs, research and clinical funding, economics, practice management, peer relations, standards and guidance and ethics.

Professional Courses - will be held for specific purposes that require multi-hour programs such as government mandated training and education, time intensive professional issues, or programs that involve attendee participation.

Practical Medical Physics Program

The Practical Medical Physics Track focuses on the activities of the clinical medical physicist. Nine courses covering practical aspects of therapy, diagnostic, and nuclear medicine physics are offered this year. A highlight of this year’s program will be an overview of the ACR/ASTRO and ACRO practice accreditation programs. We will have a session describing concepts for effective medical physics education, and one dedicated to preventing radiation misadministrations. Some of the challenges associated with CT Quality Control testing and PET/CT QA and acceptance testing will be covered, along with the implementation of SBRT/IGRT programs in a multi-vendor environment. A session dedicated to practical tips for contouring prostate and H&N anatomies will also be offered, along with another session providing an overview of issues related to irradiation of patients with implanted cardiac devices. Rounding out the program is a session aimed at providing tips for writing and reviewing manuscripts for Medical Physics.

Note: Presentation Identifiers
* - Where indicated, denotes Presenting Author