OPTIMIZE-RT course on optimization of CBCT for setup verification in RT
Applications are now open!
Application deadline: 15 Nov 2026
Course Overview
📅 Key Course Parameters
Schedule: Semester 2 of the 2026/2027 academic year (February – June 2027)
5 ECTS
100% online and mostly asynchronous, designed to offer maximum flexibility for clinical staff working shifts without interrupting daily clinical responsibilities or requiring travel
Free of charge for pilot participants
Duration: One full academic semester
🎯 Target Audience & Team Structure
Target Professions: Medical Physicists (MPs), Radiographers / Radiation Therapists (RTTs), Radiation Oncologists, Radiation Protection Experts and Officers, Quality Managers, Educators.
Multidisciplinary Team Requirement: Candidates can apply to the course as a team (2 to 4 members) from the same clinic/hospital, requiring a minimum of one Radiographer/RTT and one Medical Physicist to foster interprofessional collaboration.
Cohort Size: Targets 20 to 48 healthcare professionals in the pilot stage.
Feedback: Participants will provide feedback on the course for continuous improvement.
🏛️ Governance, Endorsement & Long-Term Sustainability
Work Package Leader: University of Malta (UM), Prof Francis Zarb.
Co-Developers: Escola Superior de Saúde Politécnico do Porto (E2SPP), Instituto Português de Oncologia do Porto (IPOP), and International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP).
Review & Endorsement Bodies: Reviewed by key international organisations, including ICRP, EFOMP, EFRS, and ESTRO.
Sustainability & Open Access: Following pilot evaluation and refinement, all lecture plans and digital learning materials will be made freely available on the project website, allowing all partners to repeat the course indefinitely.
💡 Primary Learning Outcome
Core Objective: By the end of the programme, participants will be competent in optimizing Cone-Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) imaging protocols for setup verification in radiotherapy across various clinical indications, successfully balancing radiation dose reduction with image quality suitable for setup verification.
📝 Delivery & Assessments
Synchronised Cohort Start: Participating hospital teams begin implementation at the same time so they can share real-time feedback, queries, and peer support during execution.
Theory —> Practice: The theoretical component will take place in the first weeks of the course (asynchronous online). Then, you will apply the theory to your clinical setting.
In the Practical component, as a team, you will design and implement an optimization procedure in your department. You will submit work gradually and receive feedback from mentors at every step of the optimization procedure.
Resources: The professionals will be provided with learning resources (notes, recorded lectures, papers, etc.).
Continuous Assessment: Mini-assignments will be given during the semester.
Group Portfolio: Clinical teams will work together to gradually design and implement optimized CBCT protocols directly within their local hospital settings. The team will receive feedback from mentors before progressing.
Frequently Asked Questions
-
We strongly encourage multiple teams from the same hospital to apply. However, one criterion is geographical diversity. This means that the selection committee will try to have teams from different regions. However, we have not yet reached the maximum number of applications, so everyone who applies still has a good chance (even if from the same hospital).
-
We estimate that if we get sufficient applications by the deadline (15th November), we will have the outcomes at the beginning of December.
-
Participants benefit from a foundational understanding of imaging and radiotherapy, anatomy, physics, equipment, and optimisation. However, the required knowledge to optimise CBCT in RT will be covered in the course. Working as a team also allows each professional to bring their specialised knowledge to the table.
-
This course is worth 5 ECTS credits. This course will serve as a pilot, and the precise time commitment is not yet known. However, we estimate that it will require 125-150 hours over the semester.
-
The course is 5 ECTS, which corresponds to an estimated 125-150 hours of effort. The course materials will support you in optimising one CBCT protocol in your department. As such, different people may need to review certain topics, while others may need to review different ones. Most of the time will be dedicated to applying that knowledge to optimising your protocol. What is important is that, as a team, you combine your expertise to reach the objective: optimising one CBCT protocol in your department.
-
The course is fully flexible and delivered through the Virtual Learning Environment. However, two or three meetings will be held during the semester to provide participants with an opportunity to get to know one another and share feedback. Attendance at these meetings is optional.
-
The first two writing tasks will ask you to reflect on your knowledge gaps and explain how your team will work together. Then, you will start the optimisation procedure, and you will submit the results of each step every 2 weeks (or so). For example, the first step is to choose which protocol you will optimise and why; the second step is to measure the doses of your current protocol; the next step is to change the imaging protocol; then measure the doses of the experimental protocols; then compare the image quality; and then select the optimised protocol. At each step, you will get feedback from experts, and at the end you just need to submit the whole thing. The aim is that you achive the goal of optimising one CBCT protocol in your department.
-
No identifiable patient data will be collected. Only imaging doses and imaging quality metrics. There are different ways to measure dose (CBDI, CTDIw, etc.) and image quality, both quantitative (noise, SNR, CNR) and subjective (VGA, etc.). These will all be covered in the course, and your team should use the ones that are possible for you.
-
No specific equipment requirements. Each hospital will perform the optimisation with the resources they have.
-
Yes, the course is a 5 ECTS microcredential. The certification will be issued by the University of Malta.
If your question is not answered on this website, send us an email and we will add to the FAQs: optimize-rt@um.edu.mt
Course Materials
After the end of the pilot, the teaching materials will be uploaded here and made available to the general public and professionals
(Area under construction)
(Work in Progress)