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Professional Focus

Dr. Descovich provides physics support for the UCSF radiosurgery program, including Gamma knife and Cyberknife treatments. Dr Descovich is also responsible for maintenance and quality assurance of linear accelerators used for conventional radiation therapy.  

Dr. Descovich research focuses on the development of new applications for Megavoltage Cone Beam Computer Tomography. MVCBCT is a new imaging technique used in external beam radiation therapy. It provides a 3D image of the patient in the treatment position, moments before the treatment delivery. Real time information on the patient’s anatomy enables to increase the conformality of the dose delivered to the tumor, increasing tumor control and reducing normal tissue complications. Dr. Descovich is also investigating the feasibility of using a limited angle reconstruction technique (Megavoltage Cone Beam Digital Tomosynthesis) for imaging non-static objects. This technique will lead to better methods for imaging pulmonary lesions, and will enable to improve the management of respiratory motion for patient undergoing external beam radiation therapy.

Education

Professional Experience

Awards & Honors

Recent Significant Publications

Descovich M, Ma L, Chuang CF, Larson DA, Barani IJ. Comparison between prone and supine patient setup for spine stereotactic body radiosurgery. Technol Cancer Res Treat. 2012 Jun;11(3):229-36.

Shiao SL, Sahgal A, Hu W, Jabbari S, Chuang C, Descovich M, Hsu IC, Gottschalk AR, Roach M 3rd, Ma L. Temporal compartmental dosing effects for robotic prostate stereotactic body radiotherapy. Phys Med Biol. 2011 Dec 21;56(24):7767-75.

Descovich M, Sneed PK, Barbaro NM, McDermott MW, Chuang CF, Barani IJ, Nakamura JL, Lijun M. A dosimetric comparison between Gamma Knife and CyberKnife treatment plans for trigeminal neuralgia. J Neurosurg. 2010 Dec;113 Suppl:199-206.

Jabbari S, Weinberg VK, Kaprealian T, Hsu IC, Ma L, Chuang C, Descovich M, Shiao S, Shinohara K, Roach M 3rd, Gottschalk AR. Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy as Monotherapy or Post-External Beam Radiotherapy Boost for Prostate Cancer: Technique, Early Toxicity, and PSA Response. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2012 Jan 1;82(1):228-34.

Ma L, Sahgal A, Descovich M, Cho YB, Chuang C, Huang K, Laperriere NJ, Shrieve DC, Larson DA. Equivalence in dose fall-off for isocentric and nonisocentric intracranial treatment modalities and its impact on dose fractionation schemes. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2010 Mar 1;76(3):943-8.

Hossain S, Xia P, Huang K, Descovich M, Chuang C, Gottschalk AR, Roach M 3rd, Ma L. Dose gradient near target-normal structure interface for nonisocentric CyberKnife and isocentric intensity-modulated body radiotherapy for prostate cancer. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2010 Sep 1;78(1):58-63.

Ma L, Sahgal A, Hossain S, Chuang C, Descovich M, Huang K, Gottschalk A, Larson DA. Nonrandom intrafraction target motions and general strategy for correction of spine stereotactic body radiotherapy. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2009 Nov 15;75(4):1261-5.

Morin O, Aubry JF, Aubin M, Chen J, Descovich M, Hashemi AB, Pouliot J. Physical performance and image optimization of megavoltage cone-beam CT. Med Phys. 2009 Apr;36(4):1421-32.

Descovich M, Fowble B, Bevan A, Schechter N, Park C, Xia P. Comparison between hybrid direct aperture optimized intensity-modulated radiotherapy and forward planning intensity-modulated radiotherapy for whole breast irradiation. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2010 Jan 1;76(1):91-9.

Ma L, Verhey L, Chuang C, Descovich M, Smith V, Huang K, McDermott M, Sneed P. Effect of composite sector collimation on average dose fall-off for Gamma Knife Perfexion. J Neurosurg. 2008 Dec;109 Suppl:15-20.

Ma L, Chuang C, Descovich M, Petti P, Smith V, Verhey L. Whole-procedure clinical accuracy of gamma knife treatments of large lesions. Med Phys. 2008 Nov;35(11):5110-4.

Descovich M., Morin O., Aubry J.F., Aubin M., Chen J., Bani-Hahemi A. and Pouliot J., Characteristics of Megavolatage Cone-Beam Digital Tomosynthesis, Med. Phys. 35(4), 1310-1316 (2008)

Morin O, Gillis A, Descovich M, Chen J, Aubin M, Aubry JF, Chen H, Gottschalk AR, Xia P, Pouliot J. Patient dose considerations for routine megavoltage cone-beam CT imaging. Med Phys. 2007 May;34(5):1819-27.

Morin O, Chen J, Aubin M, Gillis A, Aubry JF, Bose S, Chen H, Descovich M, Xia P, Pouliot J. Dose calculation using megavoltage cone-beam CT. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2007 Mar 15;67(4):1201-10.

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