Sunday, May 11, 2025 5/11/2025

Interactive contouring simulation (iContour) to improve outcomes of cancer patients treated with radiation therapy

Award Number: R18HS026881
ORGANIZATION: AGENCY FOR HEALTH CARE RESEARCH AND QUALITY
OPDIV: AHRQ
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: KDA (KNOWLEDGE/DEVELOPMENT/APPLICATION)

Group Awards By:

View Award Description

Interactive contouring simulation (iContour) to improve outcomes of cancer patients treated with radiation therapy - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Radiation therapy plays a central role in the treatment of cancer. The delivery of safe and effective radiation hinges on the ability to identify the radiation target (tumor), and areas to avoid (normal tissues). The act of defining the radiation target – referred to as contouring – requires a sound understanding of anatomy, radiology, and most importantly the individual patient. Existing research clearly shows that poor contouring leads to increased toxicity, and decreased survival, which emphasizes the importance of contouring to deliver safe and effective radiation therapy. This project proposes to create and test a simulation-based educational approach to improving contour quality in radiation oncology. This contouring simulation tool will allow radiation oncology providers the ability to contour test cases and receive rapid feedback on the accuracy of their contours. We will use knowledge-based planning to help provide feedback on the real life risks of toxicity and chances of cure had their contours been used to treat that patient. Using iterative and participatory design we will engage stakeholders to develop a comprehensive interactive web-based simulation tool (iContour), as well as a more focused mobile application (iContour-mobile). Successful educational applications require user engagement, therefore to increase user engagement we will leverage components of gamification and social media. With a randomized clinical trial we will test the efficacy of these different simulation strategies on real patient contours. Overall, this study seeks to define the optimal simulation strategy of how to improve real-world contouring. If successful this simulation-based education approach could transform contouring education and play a central role in residency education, continuing medical education, and board certification for radiation oncology, and serve as a model for developing simulation training tools for other fields in medicine.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $0 )
2024	2023	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO	9500 GILMAN DR	LA JOLLA	CA	92093	SAN DIEGO	USA	Research on Healthcare Costs, Quality and Outcomes	000	5	4/12/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
														Subtotal = $0

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = $383,292 )
2023	2023	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO	9500 GILMAN DRIVE	LA JOLLA	CA	92093	SAN DIEGO	USA	Research on Healthcare Costs, Quality and Outcomes	000	5	5/11/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$383,292
														Subtotal = $383,292

Issue Date FY: 2022 ( Subtotal = $383,293 )
2022	2022	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO	9500 GILMAN DR	LA JOLLA	CA	92093	SAN DIEGO	USA	Research on Healthcare Costs, Quality and Outcomes	000	4	5/25/2022	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$383,293
														Subtotal = $383,293

Issue Date FY: 2021 ( Subtotal = $391,193 )
2021	2021	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO	9500 GILMAN DR	LA JOLLA	CA	92093	SAN DIEGO	USA	Research on Healthcare Costs, Quality and Outcomes	002	3	5/4/2021	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$391,193
2021	2020	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO	9500 GILMAN DR	LA JOLLA	CA	92093	SAN DIEGO	USA	Research on Healthcare Costs, Quality and Outcomes	001	2	3/29/2021	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
2021	2019	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO	9500 GILMAN DR	LA JOLLA	CA	92093	SAN DIEGO	USA	Research on Healthcare Costs, Quality and Outcomes	000	1	3/29/2021	NEW	$0
														Subtotal = $391,193

Issue Date FY: 2020 ( Subtotal = $389,333 )
2020	2020	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO	9500 GILMAN DR	LA JOLLA	CA	92093	SAN DIEGO	USA	Research on Healthcare Costs, Quality and Outcomes	000	2	5/15/2020	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$389,333
														Subtotal = $389,333

Issue Date FY: 2019 ( Subtotal = $395,749 )
2019	2019	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO	9500 GILMAN DR DEPT 621	LA JOLLA	CA	92093	SAN DIEGO	USA	Research on Healthcare Costs, Quality and Outcomes	000	1	7/31/2019	NEW	$395,749
														Subtotal = $395,749

Grand Total All Awards = $1,942,860

Top

All Categories

About

Search

Reports

Data Submission

Award Information

Interactive contouring simulation (iContour) to improve outcomes of cancer patients treated with radiation therapy

Award Number: R18HS026881

ORGANIZATION: AGENCY FOR HEALTH CARE RESEARCH AND QUALITY

OPDIV: AHRQ

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: KDA (KNOWLEDGE/DEVELOPMENT/APPLICATION)

Federal Websites

Department of Health & Human Services

HHS Operating Divisions

HHS Staff Divisions

Download A Document Viewer