Oldenburg. Markus Dahlke (29), a Master's student in the subject of "Engineering Physics" at the University of Oldenburg and Emden/Leer University of Applied Sciences, has been awarded the prize for high-precision radiotherapy by the German Society for Radiation Oncology (DEGRO) and Accuray GmbH Heidelberg for his Master's thesis. The 2,000 euro award was presented to Dahlke at the DEGRO annual conference in Berlin. Dahlke wrote his thesis on "Development of an online gating system for the stereotactic irradiation of malignant uveal melanoma" at the University Medical Centre Schleswig-Holstein (UKSH). He was supervised by the Oldenburg medical physicist Prof Dr Björn Poppe, among others.
Malignant uveal melanoma, a tumour of the eye, leads to loss of vision or death if left untreated. In his work, Dahlke designed a computer programme to track the eye. This recognises when the eye moves during irradiation and interrupts it automatically. With the help of the newly developed system, it should be possible in future to improve the detection of eye movement and irradiation and thus prevent damage to healthy tissue. In the photo (from left): Matthias Franz, Head of Sales at Accuray, award winner Markus Dahlke and DEGRO President Prof Dr Jürgen Dunst