Martina Descovich

About

Martina Descovich is a leading medical physicist whose research centers on advancing stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) and robotic radiosurgery, particularly using the CyberKnife system. Her major contributions span treatment optimization, motion management, and quality assurance. She has pioneered studies demonstrating the clinical advantages of robotic linacs with multileaf collimators for brain and prostate cancer (55 citations), and her work on interfraction anatomical variability revealed how daily changes can significantly increase rectal dose in prostate SBRT (30 citations). Descovich has also developed innovative solutions for lung cancer treatment, comparing 4DCT-based target margins with real-time tumor motion tracking (30 citations) and analyzing pneumonitis risk for centrally located tumors (18 citations). Notably, she led the development of the CyberArc-m6 continuous arc delivery optimization algorithm to reduce treatment times (13 citations) and recently contributed to the AAPM Task Group Report 135.B on quality assurance for robotic radiosurgery (7 citations). Her deep match framework for fiducial-free respiratory tracking (2024) represents a cutting-edge zero-shot learning approach. With over 200 cumulative citations across her most influential papers, Descovich’s work has directly improved treatment precision, reduced toxicity, and established standardized protocols that benefit patients worldwide.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   Investigating the clinical advantages of a robotic linac equipped with a multileaf collimator in the treatment of brain and prostate cancer patients

   55 citations · 2015
2. 2
   Comparison between target margins derived from 4DCT scans and real‐time tumor motion tracking: Insights from lung tumor patients treated with robotic radiosurgery

   30 citations · 2015
3. 3
   Interfraction Anatomical Variability Can Lead to Significantly Increased Rectal Dose for Patients Undergoing Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy for Prostate Cancer

   30 citations · 2016
4. 4
   Improving plan quality and consistency by standardization of dose constraints in prostate cancer patients treated with CyberKnife

   21 citations · 2013
5. 5
   Analysis of Dose Distribution and Risk of Pneumonitis in Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy for Centrally Located Lung Tumors

   18 citations · 2013
6. 6
   A continuous arc delivery optimization algorithm for CyberKnife m6

   13 citations · 2018
7. 7
   Dosimetric Comparison Between 3-Dimensional Conformal and Robotic SBRT Treatment Plans for Accelerated Partial Breast Radiotherapy

   13 citations · 2015
8. 8
   Influence of respiratory motion management technique on radiation pneumonitis risk with robotic stereotactic body radiation therapy

   9 citations · 2018
9. 9
   Deep match: A zero-shot framework for improved fiducial-free respiratory motion tracking

   8 citations · 2024
10. 10
    AAPM task group report 135.B: Quality assurance for robotic radiosurgery

    7 citations · 2024

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links