Nataliya Kovalchuk, Clinical Professor at Stanford School of Medicine and President of Help Ukraine Group (HUG), shared on LinkedIn:
“Strengthening Radiation Oncology in Ukraine!
With the vital support from Swecare, Help Ukraine Group (HUG) launched a volunteer-led, independent project dedicated to cross-checking and cross-calibration of radiotherapy dosimetry equipment across Ukraine.
An incredible international collaboration!
Our Ukrainian dosimetry team – Oleg Vaskevych, Oleksandr Filatov, and Serhii Brovchuk – tested a localized cross-calibration procedure shared by experts from the UK’s National Physical Laboratory (NPL): Russell Thomas, Graham Bass, and Catharine Clark.
This initiative was developed through close collaboration with an outstanding international advisory group of medical physicists from NPL and Natalka Suchowerska, Viktor Iakovenko, Anna Ralston, Ruslan Zelinskyi, Viacheslav Lizunov.
Key achievements:
- 22 ionization chambers from 15 oncology centers across Ukraine were successfully cross-checked against a certified reference ionization chamber.
- Preliminary results demonstrated very good agreement with the reference calibration certificate values.
- A collaborative framework was established to strengthen dosimetry quality assurance, independent verification, and knowledge sharing across Ukrainian radiotherapy centers.
Next step: Training and verification at NPL!
The Ukrainian dosimetry team will soon visit the National Physical Laboratory in the UK to further discuss and verify the results and gain hands-on insight into Secondary Standard Dosimetry Laboratory (SSDL) calibration workflows.
Upon returning to Ukraine, the team will share individualized measurement results with each participating oncology center.
Our heartfelt gratitude to the NPL experts and international collaborators for sharing their expertise, to Swecare for funding this initiative, and to all 15 participating oncology centers for their trust and commitment to improving radiotherapy quality.
Special thanks to Serhii Brovchuk for spearheading this important project!
Accurate dosimetry is fundamental to safe and effective radiation therapy.
By strengthening local expertise, promoting independent verification, and building sustainable quality assurance practices, we are helping ensure that Ukrainian cancer patients receive high-quality radiation treatment, even under the extraordinarily difficult circumstances of war.
Together, we are building a stronger, safer, and more resilient radiation oncology system in Ukraine!”
Proceed to the video attached to the post.
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