Development of an IAEA phase-space dataset for the Leksell Gamma Knife® Perfexion™ using multi-threaded Geant4 simulations

Feasibility of Isodose-shaped scintillation detectors for the measurement of gamma Knife® output factors

PURPOSE

Scintillation detectors were 3D printed based on a gamma knife (GK) dose distribution to calculate the volume averaging effect. The collimator output factors were measured using isodose-shaped scintillators (ISSs) and compared with those of a micro-diamond detector and previous reports.

METHODS

An absorbed dose distribution in a spherical dosimetry phantom with a radius of 8 cm was obtained from GK treatment planning software (Leksell GammaPlan (LGP), Elekta AB, Stockholm, Sweden). Two types of ISSs were fabricated to fit the 97.2% (ISS-1) and 95.6% (ISS-2) isodose surfaces. The volume averaging correction factors were obtained by dividing the absorbed dose to water in the central voxel (CV) by that in the ISS. The correction effect due to the difference between the ISS and water was calculated by Monte Carlo simulations. Ten ISS detectors, five of each type, were used to measure the output factors of the 4 and 8 mm collimators of a GK Icon^TM to assess system consistency. The output factors of seven GKs were measured using two ISS detectors, one of each type, and a PTW T60019 (PTW, Freiburg, Germany) micro-diamond detector.

RESULTS

The detector output ratios (DORs) measured using the five ISSs of each type were consistent, with standard uncertainties less than 0.2%. In the 4 mm field, the volume averaging correction factor ratios were 1.018 and 1.026, and the output factors after all corrections were 0.827 (0.006) and 0.825 (0.006) for ISS-1 and ISS-2, respectively. In the 8 mm field, the volume averaging correction factor ratios were 1.000 for both ISS types, and the output factors were 0.898 (0.003) and 0.900 (0.003) for ISS-1 and ISS-2, respectively. The ISS detectors could measure the output factors of a GK with uncertainties comparable to that of the PTW 60019 detector. The output factors of all detectors decreased with the dose rate.

CONCLUSION

The volume averaging effect of an ISS developed in-house could be calculated using known dose distributions. The collimator output factors of the GK Perfexion/Icon™ models measured using ISS detectors were consistent with those of a commercial synthetic micro-diamond detector and recent studies. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Dose kernel decomposition for spot-based radiotherapy treatment planning

PURPOSE

Pre-calculation of accurate dose deposition kernels for treatment planning of spot-based radiotherapies, such as Gamma Knife (GK) and Gamma Pod (GP), can be very time-consuming and may require large data storage with an enormous number of possible spots. We proposed a novel kernel decomposition (KD) model to address accurate and fast (real-time) dose calculation with reduced data storage requirements for spot-based treatment planning. The application of the KD model was demonstrated for clinical GK and GP radiotherapy platforms.

METHODS

The dose deposition kernel at each spot (shot position) is modeled as the product of a shift-invariant kernel based on a reference kernel and spatially variant scale factor. The reference kernel, one for each collimator, is defined at the center of the commissioning phantom for GK and at the center of the treatment target for GP and calculated using the Monte Carlo (MC) method. The spatially variant scale factor is defined as the ratio of the mean tissue maximum ratio (TMR) at the candidate shot position to that at the reference kernel position, and the mean TMR map is calculated within the entire volume through parallel beam ray tracing on the density image followed by averaging over all source directions. The proposed KD dose calculations were compared with the MC method and with the GK and GP treatment planning system (TPS) computations for various shot positions and collimator sizes utilizing a phantom and 14 and 12 clinical plans for GK and GP, respectively.

RESULTS

For the phantom study, the KD Gamma index (3%/1 mm) passing rates were greater than 99% (median 100%) relative to the MC doses, except for the shots close to the boundary. The passing rates dropped below 90% for 8 mm (16 mm) shots positioned within ∼1 cm (∼2 cm) of the boundary. For the clinical GK plans, the KD Gamma passing rates were greater than 99% (median 100%) compared to the MC and greater than 92% (median 99%) compared to the TPS. For the clinical GP plans, the KD Gamma passing rates were greater than 95% (median 98%) compared to the MC and greater than 91% (median 97%) compared to the TPS. The scale factors were calculated in sub-seconds with GPU implementation and only need to be calculated once before treatment plan optimization. The calculation of the dose kernel was also within sub-seconds without requiring beam-by-beam calculation commonly done in the TPS.

CONCLUSION

The proposed model can provide an accurate dose and enables real-time dose and derivative calculations by kernel shifting and scaling without pre-calculating or requiring large data storage for GK and GP dose deposition kernels during treatment planning. This model could be useful for spot-based radiotherapy treatment planning by allowing an efficient global fine search for optimal spots.

Inverse planning in Gamma Knife radiosurgery: A comparative planning study

PURPOSE

To determine the advantages of inverse planning using a prerelease version of Leksell Gamma Knife® (LGK) Lightning (Elekta AB, Sweden) compared to manual forward planning.

METHODS

Thirty-eight patients with metastases (MET, n = 15), vestibular schwannomas (VS, n = 11) and meningiomas (MEN, n = 12), treated with LGK Icon™ at our institution, were analyzed retrospectively. For each case, an inverse (inv) and inverse full coverage (fc) treatment plan was generated using LGK Lightning and compared to the clinical plans. Several dosimetry and efficiency characteristics were compared for each indication. The mean, median difference and interquartile range were reported and the significance was assessed with a paired-sample Wilcoxon test (significance level < 0.05). Further, the inter operator variability was analyzed for multiple users.

RESULTS

Inv and fc treatment plans show improved target coverage (up to 3.6%) for all analyzed paradigms. For inv plans, the selectivity is enhanced (MET: 2.9%; VS: 1.8%; MEN: 1%) and the organ at risk doses are significantly reduced (VS: up to 4.5%; MEN: up to 17.5%). For inv and fc plans, the beam on time (BOT) is shortened (MET: up to 7.9%; benign tumors: 49.5%). The inter operator variability analysis shows similar treatment plan quality with small differences in plan efficiency (difference in BOT: 1-3.3 min).

CONCLUSIONS

LGK Lightning allows to generate improved LGK treatment plans regarding plan quality with reduced BOT compared to manual forward plans. The inter operator variability showed that multiple users with different experiences can generate similar treatment plan quality using LGK Lightning.

A structural analytic method on the phase space data of Linac 4 MV photons based on the real world

PURPOSE

It was given that the characteristics of the fluence distribution and the energy spectrum structure of 4MV photons on the Phase Space (PhSp) plane and a method to analyzing the characteristics.

METHODS

After the PhSp file of 4 MV photons was acquired by the method of Monte Carlo (MC) calculation, the photons recorded by PhSp file were grouped based on the energy bin, and it was analyzed that the spatial distribution and energy spectrum structure of the photons. The photons in each energy group were continually grouped to sub-files according to momentum bin, and the primary and scattered photons could be separated according to the character of the fluence distribution of the photons in the sub-files.

RESULTS

The energy of 4 MV beam is a continuous spectrum. The energy constituent on a pixel at different distances from the center point is different, and the average energy on the center axis of the field is the highest; The photons with 0-1.0 MeV had 42.6% of all; that with energy more than 3.0 MeV had 11.7%; greater than 4 MeV, just 1.5%. The primary and scattered photons were easy collected according to the distribution characteristics of sub-groups.

CONCLUSIONS

The work to acquire and analyze the PhSp file of the 4 MV beam is significant. 4 MV, 6 MV, 8 MV, 10 MV and 15 MV energy beams basically cover the beams of radiotherapy, and a database of the energy beams could be built for the MC related research of other scholars.