Automated Monte Carlo Simulation of Proton Therapy Treatment Plans

Simulations of clinical proton radiotherapy treatment plans using general purpose Monte Carlo codes have been proven to be a valuable tool for basic research and clinical studies. They have been used to benchmark dose calculation methods, to study radiobiological effects, and to develop new technologies such as in vivo range verification methods. Advancements in the availability of computational power have made it feasible to perform such simulations on large sets of patient data, resulting in a need for automated and consistent simulations. A framework called MCAUTO was developed for this purpose. Both passive scattering and pencil beam scanning delivery are supported. The code handles the data exchange between the treatment planning system and the Monte Carlo system, which requires not only transfer of plan and imaging information but also translation of institutional procedures, such as output factor definitions. Simulations are performed on a high-performance computing infrastructure. The simulation methods were designed to use the full capabilities of Monte Carlo physics models, while also ensuring consistency in the approximations that are common to both pencil beam and Monte Carlo dose calculations. Although some methods need to be tailored to institutional planning systems and procedures, the described procedures show a general road map that can be easily translated to other systems.

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A benchmarking method to evaluate the accuracy of a commercial proton monte carlo pencil beam scanning treatment planning system

Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics ◽

10.1002/acm2.12043 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 18 (2) ◽

pp. 44-49 ◽

Cited By ~ 26

Author(s):

Liyong Lin ◽

Sheng Huang ◽

Minglei Kang ◽

Petri Hiltunen ◽

Reynald Vanderstraeten ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Monte Carlo ◽

Treatment Planning ◽

Planning System ◽

Treatment Planning System ◽

Pencil Beam ◽

Beam Scanning ◽

Pencil Beam Scanning

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SU-F-T-153: Experimental Validation and Calculation Benchmark for a Commercial Monte Carlo Pencil Beam Scanning Proton Therapy Treatment Planning System in Water

Medical Physics ◽

10.1118/1.4956289 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 43 (6Part15) ◽

pp. 3497-3497

Author(s):

L Lin ◽

S Huang ◽

M Kang ◽

C Ainsley ◽

P Hiltunen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Monte Carlo ◽

Treatment Planning ◽

Proton Therapy ◽

Experimental Validation ◽

Planning System ◽

Treatment Planning System ◽

Pencil Beam ◽

Beam Scanning ◽

Pencil Beam Scanning ◽

Therapy Treatment

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Phantom design and dosimetric characterization for multiple simultaneous cell irradiations with active pencil beam scanning

Radiation and Environmental Biophysics ◽

10.1007/s00411-019-00813-1 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 58 (4) ◽

pp. 563-573 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Monika Clausen ◽

Suphalak Khachonkham ◽

Sylvia Gruber ◽

Peter Kuess ◽

Rolf Seemann ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Monte Carlo ◽

Target Location ◽

Reference Conditions ◽

Absorbed Dose ◽

Planning System ◽

Treatment Planning System ◽

Pencil Beam ◽

Depth Dose

Abstract A new phantom was designed for in vitro studies on cell lines in horizontal particle beams. The phantom enables simultaneous irradiation at multiple positions along the beam path. The main purpose of this study was the detailed dosimetric characterization of the phantom which consists of various heterogeneous structures. The dosimetric measurements described here were performed under non-reference conditions. The experiment involved a CT scan of the phantom, dose calculations performed with the treatment planning system (TPS) RayStation employing both the Pencil Beam (PB) and Monte Carlo (MC) algorithms, and proton beam delivery. Two treatment plans reflecting the typical target location for head and neck cancer and prostate cancer treatment were created. Absorbed dose to water and dose homogeneity were experimentally assessed within the phantom along the Bragg curve with ionization chambers (ICs) and EBT3 films. LETd distributions were obtained from the TPS. Measured depth dose distributions were in good agreement with the Monte Carlo-based TPS data. Absorbed dose calculated with the PB algorithm was 4% higher than the absorbed dose measured with ICs at the deepest measurement point along the spread-out Bragg peak. Results of experiments using melanoma (SKMel) cell line are also presented. The study suggested a pronounced correlation between the relative biological effectiveness (RBE) and LETd, where higher LETd leads to elevated cell death and cell inactivation. Obtained RBE values ranged from 1.4 to 1.8 at the survival level of 10% (RBE10). It is concluded that dosimetric characterization of a phantom before its use for RBE experiments is essential, since a high dosimetric accuracy contributes to reliable RBE data and allows for a clearer differentiation between physical and biological uncertainties.

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Developing a Monte Carlo model for MEVION S250i with HYPERSCAN and Adaptive Aperture™ pencil beam scanning proton therapy system

Journal of Radiotherapy in Practice ◽

10.1017/s1460396920000266 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-8

Author(s):

Bing-Hao Chiang ◽

Austin Bunker ◽

Hosang Jin ◽

Salahuddin Ahmad ◽

Yong Chen

Keyword(s):

Monte Carlo ◽

Proton Therapy ◽

Monte Carlo Model ◽

Particle Simulation ◽

Planning System ◽

Treatment Planning System ◽

Pencil Beam ◽

Beam Scanning ◽

Pencil Beam Scanning ◽

Beam Characteristics

Abstract Aim: As the number of proton therapy facilities has steadily increased, the need for the tool to provide precise dose simulation for complicated clinical and research scenarios also increase. In this study, the treatment head of Mevion HYPERSCAN pencil beam scanning (PBS) proton therapy system including energy modulation system (EMS) and Adaptive Aperture™ (AA) was modelled using TOPAS (TOolkit for PArticle Simulation) Monte Carlo (MC) code and was validated during commissioning process. Materials and methods: The proton beam characteristics including integral depth doses (IDDs) of pristine Bragg peak and in-air beam spot sizes were simulated and compared with measured beam data. The lateral profiles, with and without AA, were also verified against calculation from treatment planning system (TPS). Results: All beam characteristics for IDDs and in-air spot size agreed well within 1 mm and 10% separately. The full width at half maximum and penumbra of lateral dose profile also agree well within 2 mm. Finding: The TOPAS MC simulation of the MEVION HYPERSCAN PBS proton therapy system has been modelled and validated; it could be a viable tool for research and verification of the proton treatment in the future.

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Monte Carlo evaluation of a treatment planning system for helical tomotherapy in an anthropomorphic heterogeneous phantom and for clinical treatment plans

Medical Physics ◽

10.1118/1.3002316 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 35 (12) ◽

pp. 5366-5374 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Ying-Li Zhao ◽

M. Mackenzie ◽

C. Kirkby ◽

B. G. Fallone

Keyword(s):

Monte Carlo ◽

Treatment Planning ◽

Helical Tomotherapy ◽

Clinical Treatment ◽

Planning System ◽

Treatment Planning System ◽

Treatment Plans ◽

Monte Carlo Evaluation

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Effect of correction/calibration factors on accuracy of in vivo dose delivery with cylindrical n-type Isorad diode in conventional radiotherapy

Journal of Radiotherapy in Practice ◽

10.1017/s1460396913000095 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 13 (2) ◽

pp. 180-188

Author(s):

Kashif Islam ◽

Asdar ul Haque ◽

Muzaffar Hussain ◽

Sohail Murad ◽

Khan Muhammad ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Radiation Treatment ◽

Planning System ◽

Treatment Planning System ◽

In Vivo Dosimetry ◽

Correction Factors ◽

Dose Delivery ◽

Calculated Correction ◽

Treatment Plans ◽

Palliative Patient

AbstractPurposeThe main aim was to use pre-calculated correction factors and calibration factors for measurement of accuracy of dose delivery before implementation of such in vivo dosimetry on real patients visiting for first radiation treatment. These factors were verified by generating the most common treatment plans on human phantom except for breast and colon using cobalt-60 unit.Materials and methodsSix treatment plans were generated, i.e. nasopharynx, bladder, prostate, brain, larynx and lung of human phantom, total 18 fields were planned keeping in view the correction factors which are to be verified. MULTIDATA Decision Support System 2.5, Shimadzu simulator, Isorad diode-n type, electrometer patient dose monitor and ATOM Adult male human phantom were used.Results and conclusionFor 18 fields, the dose delivery was accurate in the range 0·29–6·74%. The deviation between measured and expected doses to nasopharynx, lung, bladder, prostate, brain and larynx cases of human phantom ranged from 1·44–3·89%, 0·29–0·54%, 0·44–6·18%, 0·54–5·16%, 0·33–4·90%, 5·58–6·74%, respectively. In 30 palliative patient cases, the first radiation treatment was also monitored. The accuracy of dosimety ranged from 1·05% to 5·35%. This study is helpful to identify areas of improvement in treatment of patients like quality control/quality assurance (QA) of treatment planning system, beam data modifications, machine repair maintenance, QA audit in radiotherapy.

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Clinical validation of a GPU-based Monte Carlo dose engine of a commercial treatment planning system for pencil beam scanning proton therapy

Physica Medica ◽

10.1016/j.ejmp.2021.07.012 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 88 ◽

pp. 226-234

Author(s):

Francesco Fracchiolla ◽

Erik Engwall ◽

Martin Janson ◽

Fredrik Tamm ◽

Stefano Lorentini ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Monte Carlo ◽

Treatment Planning ◽

Proton Therapy ◽

Planning System ◽

Treatment Planning System ◽

Clinical Validation ◽

Pencil Beam ◽

Beam Scanning ◽

Pencil Beam Scanning

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A Monte Carlo Model for Independent Dose Verification in Serial Tomotherapy

Technology in Cancer Research & Treatment ◽

10.1177/153303460800700506 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 7 (5) ◽

pp. 385-391

Author(s):

Vikren Sarkar ◽

Sotirios Stathakis ◽

Nikos Papanikolaou

Keyword(s):

Monte Carlo ◽

Head And Neck ◽

Monte Carlo Model ◽

Planning System ◽

Treatment Planning System ◽

Dose Verification ◽

Dose Distributions ◽

Arc Therapy ◽

Treatment Plans ◽

Very High

Due to the very high complexity of IMRT treatment plans, it is imperative to perform dose verification, preferably before patient delivery. The aim of this project is to develop a Monte-Carlo-based model to verify the final dose distributions of plans developed using the Peacock system (CORVUS Treatment Planning System and MIMiC collimator). The system delivers radiation through arc therapy and uses sinogram files to determine the state of each of the multileaf collimator leaves. In-house software was developed using Matlab to decode the sinograms and create blocklets that are used as input in an MCSIM model of the MIMiC collimator attached to a Varian Clinac 600C. After validating the model, a prostate and head and neck case were simulated. The CORVUS-predicted dose distributions were compared with the Monte Carlo dose distributions. As expected, the results agreed very closely for the homogeneous case of the prostate but there were large discrepancies observed for the more heterogeneous head and neck case.

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Clinical Implementation of a Proton Dose Verification System Utilizing a GPU Accelerated Monte Carlo Engine

International Journal of Particle Therapy ◽

10.14338/ijpt-16-00011.1 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 3 (2) ◽

pp. 312-319 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Chris Beltran ◽

H. Wan Chan Tseung ◽

Kurt E. Augustine ◽

Martin Bues ◽

Daniel W. Mundy ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Monte Carlo ◽

Dose Calculation ◽

Planning System ◽

Treatment Planning System ◽

Dose Verification ◽

Spot Scanning ◽

Proton Treatment ◽

Treatment Plans ◽

Biological Dose ◽

Monte Carlo Dose Calculation

Abstract Purpose: To develop a clinical infrastructure that allows for routine Monte Carlo dose calculation verification of spot scanning proton treatment plans and includes a simple biological model to aid in normal tissue protection. Materials and Methods: A graphical processing unit accelerated Monte Carlo dose engine was used as the calculation engine for dose verification on spot scanning proton plans. An infrastructure was built around this engine that allows for seamless exporting of treatment plans from the treatment planning system and importing of dose distribution from the Monte Carlo calculation via DICOM (digital imaging and communications in medicine). An easy-to-use Web-based interface was developed so that the application could be run from any computer. In addition to the standard relative biological effectiveness = 1.1 for proton therapy, a simple linear equation dependent on dose-weighted linear energy transfer was included. This was used to help detect possible high biological dose in critical structures. Results: More than 270 patients were treated at our proton center in the first year of operation. Because most plans underwent multiple iterations before final approval, more than 1000 plans have been run through the system from multiple users with minimal downtime. The average time from plan export to importing of the Monte Carlo doses was less than 15 minutes. Treatment plans have been modified based on the nominal Monte Carlo dose or the biological dose. Conclusion: Monte Carlo dose calculation verification of spot scanning proton treatment plans is feasible in a clinical environment. The 3-dimensional dose verification, particularly near heterogeneities, has resulted in plan modifications. The biological dose data provides actionable feedback for end of range effects, especially in pediatric patients.

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