The ISRS Certification Service offers SRS centers the opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to delivering SRS to a high standard. This device-agnostic service involves a comprehensive department audit that includes staffing, patient selection, treatment planning, QA, procedures and protocols, and an end-to-end dosimetric audit. Education is given as needed during the two-day visit. The audit enables centers to be alerted to any opportunities for treatment and service quality improvement. We will share our preliminary experience of ISRS certification audits and examples of improvements we have helped audited centers achieve.
We will also hear from the Radiosurgery Centre Sigulda, Latvia, on their experiences as one of the first CyberKnife® System user to have completed the ISRS certification process.
Ian Paddick, M.Sc., Consultant Physicist, Medical Physics Limited, UK
Ian began his career as a Medical Physicist in 1989, working at the Hammersmith Hospital, London. Since 1998, he has worked almost exclusively in the field of SRS, being responsible for over 6,000 patient treatments and helping start-up over 100 centres worldwide. He is considered a world authority on treatment plan metrics, having formulated the Paddick Conformity Index and the Gradient Index.
In 2003, Ian became a freelance physicist and set up Medical Physics Limited, a group of physicists providing expert radiosurgery physics services to SRS centres in the UK, Europe and the USA, and industry.
Ian is currently on the faculty of five SRS centres; Queen Square, London; GenesisCare, Cromwell, London; London Gamma Knife Centre; Thornbury Radiosurgery Centre, Sheffield and St. Elisabeth Hospital, Tilburg, Netherlands.
He was the first physicist to serve as President of the International Stereotactic Radiosurgery Society (ISRS) and this year has received Fabrikant Award for his contribution to SRS.
He serves as President of the British Radiosurgery Society and Chair of the ISRS Certification Committee.
Elena De Martin, M.Sc., Medical Physicist, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Milan, Italy
As a medical physicist, Elena has been working since 2011 at the Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta in Milan, primarily in the field of radiotherapy and specifically in radiosurgery. Her responsibilities include both treatment plan optimization and quality assurance programs. She have also contributed to the
study and validation of new technologies for dosimetric verification of patient-specific treatment plans. Additionally, Elena has gained experience in the use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging studies, with a particular focus on advanced imaging techniques.
Other activities she is involved experience in the use of focused ultrasound for intracranial treatments, both in terms of quality controls and for research purposes. Her clinical work has been consistently accompanied by research activities, leading to the publication of articles and contributions in medical-scientific journals and
books. Elena also serves as a reviewer and guest editor for national and international journals. She am involved in mentoring university students and those specializing in the field of medical physics. Since 2022, has been leading the Italian Intracranial Radiosurgery Inter-group, and since October 2023, she has been serving as a regional counsellor for the Italian Association of Medical Physicists.
Vladislav Buryk, M.D., Ph.D., Neurosurgeon, Radiosurgery Centre Sigulda, Latvia
Dr Buryk is a neuro-radiosurgery expert with more than ten years of experience in the field of radiosurgery with the CyberKnife® G4™and M6™ Systems. He has participated in the treatment of more than 1,200 patients. For 20 years, he has specialized in neurosurgery and neuroradiosurgery. Since 2016, Dr Buryk has been a leading consultant and teaching staff, training not only new specialists but also specialists from other radiosurgery clinics. One of the top lecturers in courses on radiosurgery organised by ISRS in 2016, 2017 and 2018. He leads the treatment of the most complicated patients within the framework of a multidisciplinary team.
Indra Surkova, MPhys, Medical Physicist, Radiosurgery Centre Sigulda, Latvia
Indra Surkova holds a bachelor’s degree in medical physics and engineering and a Master’s in Medical Physics from Riga Technical University. Since August 2011, she has worked as a Medical Physicist at the Radiosurgery Centre of Sigulda and Riga East University Hospital/Latvian Oncology Centre since November 2015. Her responsibilities include treatment planning in various radiotherapy systems, ensuring patient position accuracy, checking plans, and supervising junior medical physicists and students. She works with six linear accelerators and performs duties related to radiation protection, CyberKnife System testing, and patient plan QA procedures. Indra Surkova has attended various courses and conferences, both locally and internationally.
