scholarly journals Comparison Between Thermo Luminescence Dosimeter and Planning System Dose Calculation in The Brain and Spinal Cord Tumour

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 272-279
Author(s):  
Ehab A Hegazy

Radiotherapy of Spinal cord and brain tumor requires High care due to considerable changes in the white matter of the brain, which consequently lead to a reduction of patient learning and mental skills. It is considered a very critical tumor due to high sensitivity of gross volume location and normal tissues surrounding it, including eye, heart, plate thyroid, and testis. XiO planning systems, TLD dosimeter found in Mansoura university oncology department, CMS XIO USA TPS were compared using electron and photon beams with different energies at a different site in target volume and organs at risk. We conclude that regular calibration of planning systems and direct measurement of the dose delivered to main target and organs at risk should be done to avoid the difference between XiO planning systems and direct measurement by TLd.

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wufei Cao ◽  
Yongdong Zhuang ◽  
Lixin Chen ◽  
Xiaowei Liu

Abstract Purpose In this study, we employed a gated recurrent unit (GRU)-based recurrent neural network (RNN) using dosimetric information induced by individual beam to predict the dose-volume histogram (DVH) and investigated the feasibility and usefulness of this method in biologically related models for nasopharyngeal carcinomas (NPC) treatment planning. Methods and materials One hundred patients with NPC undergoing volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) between 2018 and 2019 were randomly selected for this study. All the VMAT plans were created using the Monaco treatment planning system (Elekta, Sweden) and clinically approved: > 98% of PGTVnx received the prescribed doses of 70 Gy, > 98% of PGTVnd received the prescribed doses of 66 Gy and > 98% of PCTV received 60 Gy. Of these, the data from 80 patients were used to train the GRU-RNN, and the data from the other 20 patients were used for testing. For each NPC patient, the DVHs of different organs at risk were predicted by a trained GRU-based RNN using the information given by individual conformal beams. Based on the predicted DVHs, the equivalent uniform doses (EUD) were calculated and applied as dose constraints during treatment planning optimization. The regenerated VMAT experimental plans (EPs) were evaluated by comparing them with the clinical plans (CPs). Results For the 20 test patients, the regenerated EPs guided by the GRU-RNN predictive model achieved good consistency relative to the CPs. The EPs showed better consistency in PTV dose distribution and better dose sparing for many organs at risk, and significant differences were found in the maximum/mean doses to the brainstem, brainstem PRV, spinal cord, lenses, temporal lobes, parotid glands and larynx with P-values < 0.05. On average, compared with the CPs, the maximum/mean doses to these OARs were altered by − 3.44 Gy, − 1.94 Gy, − 1.88 Gy, 0.44 Gy, 1.98 Gy, − 1.82 Gy and 2.27 Gy, respectively. In addition, significant differences were also found in brainstem and spinal cord for the dose received by 1 cc volume with 4.11 and 1.67 Gy dose reduction in EPs on average. Conclusion The GRU-RNN-based DVH prediction method was capable of accurate DVH prediction. The regenerated plans guided by the predicted EUDs were not inferior to the manual plans, had better consistency in PTVs and better dose sparing in critical OARs, indicating the usefulness and effectiveness of biologically related model in knowledge-based planning.


2017 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. E14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mayur Sharma ◽  
Elizabeth E. Bennett ◽  
Gazanfar Rahmathulla ◽  
Samuel T. Chao ◽  
Hilary K. Koech ◽  
...  

OBJECTIVE Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) of the spine is a conformal method of delivering a high radiation dose to a target in a single or few (usually ≤ 5) fractions with a sharp fall-off outside the target volume. Although efforts have been focused on evaluating spinal cord tolerance when treating spinal column metastases, no study has formally evaluated toxicity to the surrounding organs at risk (OAR), such as the brachial plexus or the oropharynx, when performing SRS in the cervicothoracic region. The aim of this study was to evaluate the radiation dosimetry and the acute and delayed toxicities of SRS on OAR in such patients. METHODS Fifty-six consecutive patients (60 procedures) with a cervicothoracic spine tumor involving segments within C5–T1 who were treated using single-fraction SRS between February 2006 and July 2014 were included in the study. Each patient underwent CT simulation and high-definition MRI before treatment. The clinical target volume and OAR were contoured on BrainScan and iPlan software after image fusion. Radiation toxicity was evaluated using the common toxicity criteria for adverse events and correlated to the radiation doses delivered to these regions. The incidence of vertebral body compression fracture (VCF) before and after SRS was evaluated also. RESULTS Metastatic lesions constituted the majority (n = 52 [93%]) of tumors treated with SRS. Each patient was treated with a median single prescription dose of 16 Gy to the target. The median percentage of tumor covered by SRS was 93% (maximum target dose 18.21 Gy). The brachial plexus received the highest mean maximum dose of 17 Gy, followed by the esophagus (13.8 Gy) and spinal cord (13 Gy). A total of 14 toxicities were encountered in 56 patients (25%) during the study period. Overall, 14% (n = 8) of the patients had Grade 1 toxicity, 9% (n = 5) had Grade 2 toxicity, 2% (n = 1) had Grade 3 toxicity, and none of the patients had Grade 4 or 5 toxicity. The most common (12%) toxicity was dysphagia/odynophagia, followed by axial spine pain flare or painful radiculopathy (9%). The maximum radiation dose to the brachial plexus showed a trend toward significance (p = 0.066) in patients with worsening post-SRS pain. De novo and progressive VCFs after SRS were noted in 3% (3 of 98) and 4% (4 of 98) of vertebral segments, respectively. CONCLUSIONS From the analysis, the current SRS doses used at the Cleveland Clinic seem safe and well tolerated at the cervicothoracic junction. These preliminary data provide tolerance benchmarks for OAR in this region. Because the effect of dose-escalation SRS strategies aimed at improving local tumor control needs to be balanced carefully with associated treatment-related toxicity on adjacent OAR, larger prospective studies using such approaches are needed.


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-34
Author(s):  
Nursama Heru Apriantoro ◽  
Bambang Sutrisno Wibowo ◽  
Muhammad Irsal ◽  
Prima Chintya Delsi Kasih

This study aims to analyze the difference in results between TPS 3D-CRT radiotherapy irradiation technique and IMRT radiotherapy irradiation technique in nasopharyngeal cancer cases based on the doses received by the target volume and organs at risk and results of isodosis curve which include the value of the index conformity and homogeneity index value. Type of this research is quantitative experimental method. As for the population was taken in 10 patients consisting of 5 male and 5 female patients with nasopharyngeal cancer who received radiation therapy with 3D-CRT irradiation technique and IMRT radiation technique. Meaningfully, the results shows that are no difference in the dose received by the target volume, the dose received by organs at risk, and the curve isodose on these two techniques, including index values of conformity and homogeneity index. In conclusion, IMRT radiotherapy irradiation technique for nasopharyngeal cancer is more prioritized than 3DCRT radiotherapy irradiation technique, as the radiotherapy principle can be achieved by using IMRT radiotherapy irradiation technique.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wufei Cao ◽  
Yongdong Zhuang ◽  
Lixin Chen ◽  
Xiaowei Liu

Abstract Purpose: In this study, we employed a gated recurrent unit (GRU)-based recurrent neural network (RNN) using dosimetric information induced by individual beam to predict the dose-volume histogram (DVH) and investigated the feasibility and usefulness of this method in biologically related models for nasopharyngeal carcinomas (NPC) treatment planning.Methods and Materials: One hundred patients with NPC undergoing volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) between 2018 and 2019 were randomly selected for this study. All the VMAT plans were created using the Monaco treatment planning system (Elekta, Sweden) and clinically approved: >98% of PGTVnx received the prescribed doses of 70 Gy, >98% of PGTVnd received the prescribed doses of 66 Gy and >98% of PCTV received 60 Gy. Of these, the data from 80 patients were used to train the GRU-RNN, and the data from the other 20 patients were used for testing. For each NPC patient, the DVHs of different organs at risk were predicted by a trained GRU-based RNN using the information given by individual conformal beams. Based on the predicted DVHs, the equivalent uniform doses (EUD) were calculated and applied as dose constraints during treatment planning optimization. The regenerated VMAT experimental plans (EPs) were evaluated by comparing them with the clinical plans (CPs).Results: For the 20 test patients, the regenerated EPs guided by the GRU-RNN predictive model achieved good consistency relative to the CPs. The EPs showed better consistency in PTV dose distribution and better dose sparing for many organs at risk, and significant differences were found in the maximum/mean doses to the brainstem, brainstem PRV, spinal cord, lenses, temporal lobes, parotid glands and larynx with P-values <0.05. On average, compared with the CPs, the maximum/mean doses to these OARs were altered by -3.44 Gy, -1.94 Gy, -1.88 Gy, 0.44 Gy, 1.98 Gy, -1.82 Gy and 2.27 Gy, respectively. In addition, significant differences were also found in brainstem and spinal cord for the dose received by 1cc volume with 4.11 and 1.67 Gy dose reduction in EPs on average.Conclusion: The GRU-RNN-based DVH prediction method was capable of accurate DVH prediction. The regenerated plans guided by the predicted EUDs were not inferior to the manual plans, had better consistency in PTVs and better dose sparing in critical OARs, indicating the usefulness and effectiveness of biologically related model in knowledge-based planning.


2016 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 433-441 ◽  
Author(s):  
Primoz Petric ◽  
Robert Hudej ◽  
Noora Al-Hammadi ◽  
Barbara Segedin

Abstract Background Standard applicators for cervical cancer Brachytherapy (BT) do not always achieve acceptable balance between target volume and normal tissue irradiation. We aimed to develop an innovative method of Target-volume Density Mapping (TDM) for modelling of novel applicator prototypes with optimal coverage characteristics. Patients and methods. Development of Contour-Analysis Tool 2 (CAT-2) software for TDM generation was the core priority of our task group. Main requests regarding software functionalities were formulated and guided the coding process. Software validation and accuracy check was performed using phantom objects. Concepts and terms for standardized workflow of TDM post-processing and applicator development were introduced. Results CAT-2 enables applicator-based co-registration of Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) structures from a sample of cases, generating a TDM with pooled contours in applicator-eye-view. Each TDM voxel is assigned a value, corresponding to the number of target contours encompassing that voxel. Values are converted to grey levels and transformed to DICOM image, which is transported to the treatment planning system. Iso-density contours (IDC) are generated as lines, connecting voxels with same grey levels. Residual Volume at Risk (RVR) is created for each IDC as potential volume that could contain organs at risk. Finally, standard and prototype applicators are applied on the TDM and virtual dose planning is performed. Dose volume histogram (DVH) parameters are recorded for individual IDC and RVR delineations and characteristic curves generated. Optimal applicator configuration is determined in an iterative manner based on comparison of characteristic curves, virtual implant complexities and isodose distributions. Conclusions Using the TDM approach, virtual applicator prototypes capable of conformal coverage of any target volume, can be modelled. Further systematic assessment, including studies on clinical feasibility, safety and effectiveness are needed before routine use of novel prototypes can be considered.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhikai Liu ◽  
Fangjie Liu ◽  
Wanqi Chen ◽  
Yinjie Tao ◽  
Xia Liu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background and Objective: Delineation of the clinical target volume (CTV) and organs at risk (OARs) is very important for radiotherapy but is time-consuming and prone to inter- and intra-observer variation. We trained and evaluated a U-Net-based model to provide fast and consistent auto-segmentation for breast cancer radiotherapy. Methods: We collected 160 patients’ computed tomography (CT) scans with early-stage breast cancer who underwent breast-conserving surgery (BCS) and were treated with radiotherapy in our center. CTV and OARs (contralateral breast, heart, lungs and spinal cord) were delineated manually by two experienced radiation oncologists. The data were used for model training and testing. The dice similarity coefficient (DSC) and 95th Hausdorff distance (95HD) were used to assess the performance of our model. CTV and OARs were randomly selected as ground truth (GT) masks, and artificial intelligence (AI) masks were generated by the proposed model. The contours were randomly distributed to two clinicians to compare CTV score differences. The consistency between two clinicians was tested. We also evaluated time cost for auto-delineation. Results: The mean DSC values of the proposed method were 0.94, 0.95, 0.94, 0.96, 0.96 and 0.93 for breast CTV, contralateral breast, heart, right lung, left lung and spinal cord, respectively. The mean 95HD values were 4.31 mm, 3.59 mm, 4.86 mm, 3.18 mm, 2.79 mm and 4.37 mm for the above structures respectively. The average CTV scores for AI and GT were 2.92 versus 2.89 when evaluated by oncologist A (P=.612), and 2.75 versus 2.83 by oncologist B (P=.213), with no statistically significant differences. The consistency between two clinicians was poor (Kappa=0.282). The times for auto-segmentation of CTV and OARs were 3.88 s and 6.15 s. Conclusions: Our proposed model can improve the speed and accuracy of delineation compared with U-Net, while it performed equally well with the segmentation generated by oncologists.


2006 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 108-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. Ballivy ◽  
W. Parker ◽  
T. Vuong ◽  
G. Shenouda ◽  
H. Patrocinio

We assessed the effect of geometric uncertainties on target coverage and on dose to the organs at risk (OARS) during intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) for head-and-neck cancer, and we estimated the required margins for the planning target volume (PTV) and the planning organ-at-risk volume (PRV). For eight headand- neck cancer patients, we generated IMRT plans with localization uncertainty margins of 0 mm, 2.5 mm, and 5.0 mm. The beam intensities were then applied on repeat computed tomography (CT) scans obtained weekly during treatment, and dose distributions were recalculated. The dose–volume histogram analysis for the repeat CT scans showed that target coverage was adequate (V100 ≥ 95%) for only 12.5% of the gross tumour volumes, 54.3% of the upper-neck clinical target volumes (CTVS), and 27.4% of the lower-neck CTVS when no margins were added for PTV. The use of 2.5-mm and 5.0-mm margins significantly improved target coverage, but the mean dose to the contralateral parotid increased from 25.9 Gy to 29.2 Gy. Maximum dose to the spinal cord was above limit in 57.7%, 34.6%, and 15.4% of cases when 0-mm, 2.5-mm, and 5.0-mm margins (respectively) were used for PRV. Significant deviations from the prescribed dose can occur during IMRT treatment delivery for headand- neck cancer. The use of 2.5-mm to 5.0-mm margins for PTV and PRV greatly reduces the risk of underdosing targets and of overdosing the spinal cord.


2021 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 153303382098682
Author(s):  
Kosei Miura ◽  
Hiromasa Kurosaki ◽  
Nobuko Utsumi ◽  
Hideyuki Sakurai

Purpose: The aim of this study is to comparatively examine the possibility of reducing the exposure dose to organs at risk, such as the hippocampus and lens, and improving the dose distribution of the planned target volume with and without the use of a head-tilting base plate in hippocampal-sparing whole-brain radiotherapy using tomotherapy. Methods: Five paired images of planned head computed tomography without and with tilt were analyzed. The hippocampus and planning target volume were contoured according to the RTOG 0933 contouring atlas protocol. The hippocampal zone to be avoided was delineated using a 5-mm margin. The prescribed radiation dose was 30 Gy in 10 fractions. The absorbed dose to planning target volume dose, absorbed dose to the organ at risk, and irradiation time were evaluated. The paired t-test was used to analyze the differences between hippocampal-sparing whole-brain radiotherapy with head tilts and without head tilts. Results: Hippocampal-sparing whole-brain radiotherapy with tilt was not superior in planning target volume doses using the homogeneity index than that without tilt; however, it showed better values, and for Dmean and D2%, the values were closer to 30 Gy. Regarding the hippocampus, dose reduction with tilt was significantly greater at Dmax, Dmean, and Dmin, whereas regarding the lens, it was significantly greater at Dmax and Dmin. The irradiation time was also predominantly shorter. Conclusion: In our study, a tilted hippocampal-sparing whole-brain radiotherapy reduced the irradiation time by >10%. Therefore, our study indicated that hippocampal-sparing whole-brain radiotherapy with tomotherapy should be performed with a tilt. The head-tilting technique might be useful during hippocampal-sparing whole-brain radiotherapy. This method could decrease the radiation exposure time, while sparing healthy organs, including the hippocampus and lens.


2004 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 131-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Werner-Wasik ◽  
Xiaoli Yu ◽  
Lawrence B Marks ◽  
Timothy E Schultheiss

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