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Lin B, Li Y, Liu B, Fu S, Lin Y, Gao H. Cardinality-constrained plan-quality and delivery-time optimization method for proton therapy. Med Phys 2024. [PMID: 38861654 DOI: 10.1002/mp.17249] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2024] [Revised: 05/02/2024] [Accepted: 05/29/2024] [Indexed: 06/13/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND While minimizing plan delivery time is beneficial for proton therapy in terms of motion management, patient comfort, and treatment throughput, it often poses a tradeoff with optimizing plan quality. A key component of plan delivery time is the energy switching time, which is approximately proportional to the number of energy layers, that is, the cardinality. PURPOSE This work aims to develop a novel optimization method that can efficiently compute the pareto surface between plan quality and energy layer cardinality, for the planner to navigate through this quality-and-efficiency tradeoff and select the appropriate plan of a balanced tradeoff. METHODS A new IMPT method CARD is proposed that (1) explicitly incorporates the minimization of energy layer cardinality as an optimization objective, and (2) automatically generates a set of plans sequentially with a descending order in number of energy layers. The energy layer cardinality is penalized through the l1,0-norm regularization with an upper bound, and the upper bound is monotonically decreased to compute a series of treatment plans with gradually decreased energy layer cardinality on the quality-and-efficiency pareto surface. For any given treatment plan, the plan optimality is enforced using dose-volume planning objectives and the plan deliverability is imposed through minimum-monitor-unit (MMU) constraints, with optimization solution algorithm based on iterative convex relaxation. RESULTS The new method CARD was validated in comparison with the benchmark plan of all energy layers (P0), and a state-of-the-art method called MMSEL, using prostate, head-and-neck (HN), lung, pancreas, liver and brain cases. While labor-intensive and time-consuming manual parameter tuning was needed for MMSEL to generate plans of predefined energy layer cardinality, CARD automatically and efficiently computed all plans with sequentially decreasing predefined energy layer cardinality all at once. With the acceptable plan quality (i.e., no more than 110% of total optimization objective value from P0), CARD achieved the reduction of number of energy layers to 52% (from 77 to 40), 48% (from 135 to 65), 59% (from 85 to 50), 67% (from 52 to 35), 80% (from 50 to 40), and 30% (from 66 to 20), for prostate, HN, lung, pancreas, liver, and brain cases, respectively, compared to P0, with overall better plan quality than MMSEL. Moreover, due to the nonconvexity of the MMU constraint, CARD provided the similar or even smaller optimization objective than P0, at the same time with fewer number of energy layers, that is, 55 versus 77, 85 versus 135, 45 versus 52, and 25 versus 66 for prostate, HN, pancreas, and brain cases, respectively. CONCLUSIONS We have developed a novel optimization algorithm CARD that can efficiently and automatically compute a series of treatment plans of any given energy layer sequentially, which allows the planner to navigate through the plan-quality and energy-layer-cardinality tradeoff and select the appropriate plan of a balanced tradeoff.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bowen Lin
- Department of Intervention Medicine, The Second Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China
| | - Yuliang Li
- Department of Intervention Medicine, The Second Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China
| | - Bin Liu
- Department of Intervention Medicine, The Second Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China
| | - Shujun Fu
- Department of Intervention Medicine, The Second Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China
- School of Mathematics, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China
| | - Yuting Lin
- Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas, USA
| | - Hao Gao
- Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas, USA
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Lansonneur P, Magliari A, Rosa L, Perez J, Niemelä P, Folkerts M. Combined optimization of spot positions and weights for better FLASH proton therapy. Phys Med Biol 2024; 69:125010. [PMID: 38749462 DOI: 10.1088/1361-6560/ad4c53] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2023] [Accepted: 05/15/2024] [Indexed: 06/11/2024]
Abstract
Objective.In Intensity Modulated Proton Therapy (IMPT), the weights of individual pencil-beams or spots are optimized to fulfil dosimetric constraints. Theses spots are usually located on a regular lattice and their positions are fixed during optimization. In many cases, the range of spot weights may however be limited, leading sometimes to sub-optimal plan quality. An emblematic use case is the delivery of a plan at ultra-high dose rate (FLASH-RT), for which the spot weights are typically constrained to high values.Approach. To improve further the quality of IMPT FLASH plans, we propose here a novel algorithm to optimize both the spot weights and positions directly based on the objectives defined by the treatment planner.Main results. For all cases considered, optimizing the spot positions lead to an enhanced dosimetric score, while maintaining a high dose rate.Significance. Overall, this approach resulted in a substantial plan quality improvement compared to optimizing only the spot weights, and in a similar execution time.
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Affiliation(s)
- P Lansonneur
- Varian Medical Systems Inc., 3100 Hansen Way, Palo Alto, CA 94304, United States of America
| | - A Magliari
- Varian Medical Systems Inc., 3100 Hansen Way, Palo Alto, CA 94304, United States of America
| | - L Rosa
- Varian Medical Systems Inc., 3100 Hansen Way, Palo Alto, CA 94304, United States of America
| | - J Perez
- Varian Medical Systems Inc., 3100 Hansen Way, Palo Alto, CA 94304, United States of America
| | - P Niemelä
- Varian Medical Systems Inc., 3100 Hansen Way, Palo Alto, CA 94304, United States of America
| | - M Folkerts
- Varian Medical Systems Inc., 3100 Hansen Way, Palo Alto, CA 94304, United States of America
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van Marlen P, van de Water S, Slotman BJ, Dahele M, Verbakel W. Technical note: Dosimetry and FLASH potential of UHDR proton PBS for small lung tumors: Bragg-peak-based delivery versus transmission beam and IMPT. Med Phys 2024. [PMID: 38795376 DOI: 10.1002/mp.17185] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2023] [Revised: 04/19/2024] [Accepted: 05/04/2024] [Indexed: 05/27/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND High-energy transmission beams (TBs) are currently the main delivery method for proton pencil beam scanning ultrahigh dose-rate (UHDR) FLASH radiotherapy. TBs place the Bragg-peaks behind the target, outside the patient, making delivery practical and achievement of high dose-rates more likely. However, they lead to higher integral dose compared to conventional intensity-modulated proton therapy (IMPT), in which Bragg-peaks are placed within the tumor. It is hypothesized that, when energy changes are not required and high beam currents are possible, Bragg-peak-based beams can not only achieve more conformal dose distributions than TBs, but also have more FLASH-potential. PURPOSE This works aims to verify this hypothesis by taking three different Bragg-peak-based delivery techniques and comparing them with TB and IMPT-plans in terms of dosimetry and FLASH-potential for single-fraction lung stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT). METHODS For a peripherally located lung target of various sizes, five different proton plans were made using "matRad" and inhouse-developed algorithms for spot/energy-layer/beam reduction and minimum monitor unit maximization: (1) IMPT-plan, reference for dosimetry, (2) TB-plan, reference for FLASH-amount, (3) pristine Bragg-peak plan (non-depth-modulated Bragg-peaks), (4) Bragg-peak plan using generic ridge filter, and (5) Bragg-peak plan using 3D range-modulated ridge filter. RESULTS Bragg-peak-based plans are able to achieve sufficient plan quality and high dose-rates. IMPT-plans resulted in lowest OAR-dose and integral dose (also after a FLASH sparing-effect of 30%) compared to both TB-plans and Bragg-peak-based plans. Bragg-peak-based plans vary only slightly between themselves and generally achieve lower integral dose than TB-plans. However, TB-plans nearly always resulted in lower mean lung dose than Bragg-peak-based plans and due to a higher amount of FLASH-dose for TB-plans, this difference increased after including a FLASH sparing-effect. CONCLUSION This work indicates that there is no benefit in using Bragg-peak-based beams instead of TBs for peripherally located, UHDR stereotactic lung radiotherapy, if lung dose is the priority.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patricia van Marlen
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Amsterdam UMC, Cancer Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Steven van de Water
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Amsterdam UMC, Cancer Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Ben J Slotman
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Amsterdam UMC, Cancer Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Max Dahele
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Amsterdam UMC, Cancer Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
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Wuyckens S, Wase V, Marthin O, Sundström J, Janssens G, Borderias-Villarroel E, Souris K, Sterpin E, Engwall E, Lee JA. Efficient proton arc optimization and delivery through energy layer pre-selection and post-filtering. Med Phys 2024. [PMID: 38742774 DOI: 10.1002/mp.17127] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2023] [Revised: 04/16/2024] [Accepted: 04/30/2024] [Indexed: 05/16/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Proton arc therapy (PAT) has emerged as a promising approach for improving dose distribution, but also enabling simpler and faster treatment delivery in comparison to conventional proton treatments. However, the delivery speed achievable in proton arc relies on dedicated algorithms, which currently do not generate plans with a clear speed-up and sometimes even result in increased delivery time. PURPOSE This study aims to address the challenge of minimizing delivery time through a hybrid method combining a fast geometry-based energy layer (EL) pre-selection with a dose-based EL filtering, and comparing its performance to a baseline approach without filtering. METHODS Three methods of EL filtering were developed: unrestricted, switch-up (SU), and switch-up gap (SU gap) filtering. The unrestricted method filters the lowest weighted EL while the SU gap filtering removes the EL around a new SU to minimize the gantry rotation braking. The SU filtering removes the lowest weighted group of EL that includes a SU. These filters were combined with the RayStation dynamic proton arc optimization framework energy layer selection and spot assignment (ELSA). Four bilateral oropharyngeal and four lung cancer patients' data were used for evaluation. Objective function values, target coverage robustness, organ-at-risk doses and normal tissue complication probability evaluations, as well as comparisons to intensity-modulated proton therapy (IMPT) plans, were used to assess plan quality. RESULTS The SU gap filtering algorithm performed best in five out of the eight cases, maintaining plan quality within tolerance while reducing beam delivery time, in particular for the oropharyngeal cohort. It achieved up to approximately 22% and 15% reduction in delivery time for oropharyngeal and lung treatment sites, respectively. The unrestricted filtering algorithm followed closely. In contrast, the SU filtering showed limited improvement, suppressing one or two SU without substantial delivery time shortening. Robust target coverage was kept within 1% of variation compared to the PAT baseline plan while organs-at-risk doses slightly decreased or kept about the same for all patients. CONCLUSIONS This study provides insights to accelerate PAT delivery without compromising plan quality. These advancements could enhance treatment efficiency and patient throughput.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sophie Wuyckens
- UCLouvain, Institut de recherche expérimentale et clinique, Molecular Imaging and Radiation Oncology Laboratory, Brussels, Belgium
| | | | | | | | - Guillaume Janssens
- UCLouvain, Institute of Information and Communication Technologies, Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium
- Ion Beam Applications SA, Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium
| | - Elena Borderias-Villarroel
- UCLouvain, Institut de recherche expérimentale et clinique, Molecular Imaging and Radiation Oncology Laboratory, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Kevin Souris
- UCLouvain, Institut de recherche expérimentale et clinique, Molecular Imaging and Radiation Oncology Laboratory, Brussels, Belgium
- Ion Beam Applications SA, Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium
| | - Edmond Sterpin
- UCLouvain, Institut de recherche expérimentale et clinique, Molecular Imaging and Radiation Oncology Laboratory, Brussels, Belgium
- KULeuven, Department of Oncology, Laboratory of experimental radiotherapy, Leuven, Belgium
- Particle Therapy Interuniversity Center Leuven - PARTICLE, Leuven, Belgium
| | | | - John A Lee
- UCLouvain, Institut de recherche expérimentale et clinique, Molecular Imaging and Radiation Oncology Laboratory, Brussels, Belgium
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Schilling A, Aehle M, Alme J, Barnaföldi GG, Bodova T, Borshchov V, van den Brink A, Eikeland V, Feofilov G, Garth C, Gauger NR, Grøttvik O, Helstrup H, Igolkin S, Keidel R, Kobdaj C, Kortus T, Leonhardt V, Mehendale S, Ningappa Mulawade R, Harald Odland O, O'Neill G, Papp G, Peitzmann T, Pettersen HES, Piersimoni P, Protsenko M, Rauch M, Ur Rehman A, Richter M, Röhrich D, Santana J, Seco J, Songmoolnak A, Sudár Á, Tambave G, Tymchuk I, Ullaland K, Varga-Kofarago M, Volz L, Wagner B, Wendzel S, Wiebel A, Xiao R, Yang S, Zillien S. Uncertainty-aware spot rejection rate as quality metric for proton therapy using a digital tracking calorimeter. Phys Med Biol 2023; 68:194001. [PMID: 37652034 DOI: 10.1088/1361-6560/acf5c2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2023] [Accepted: 08/31/2023] [Indexed: 09/02/2023]
Abstract
Objective.Proton therapy is highly sensitive to range uncertainties due to the nature of the dose deposition of charged particles. To ensure treatment quality, range verification methods can be used to verify that the individual spots in a pencil beam scanning treatment fraction match the treatment plan. This study introduces a novel metric for proton therapy quality control based on uncertainties in range verification of individual spots.Approach.We employ uncertainty-aware deep neural networks to predict the Bragg peak depth in an anthropomorphic phantom based on secondary charged particle detection in a silicon pixel telescope designed for proton computed tomography. The subsequently predicted Bragg peak positions, along with their uncertainties, are compared to the treatment plan, rejecting spots which are predicted to be outside the 95% confidence interval. The such-produced spot rejection rate presents a metric for the quality of the treatment fraction.Main results.The introduced spot rejection rate metric is shown to be well-defined for range predictors with well-calibrated uncertainties. Using this method, treatment errors in the form of lateral shifts can be detected down to 1 mm after around 1400 treated spots with spot intensities of 1 × 107protons. The range verification model used in this metric predicts the Bragg peak depth to a mean absolute error of 1.107 ± 0.015 mm.Significance.Uncertainty-aware machine learning has potential applications in proton therapy quality control. This work presents the foundation for future developments in this area.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander Schilling
- Center for Technology and Transfer (ZTT), University of Applied Sciences Worms, D-67549 Worms, Germany
- Chair for Scientific Computing, University of Kaiserslautern-Landau, D-67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany
| | - Max Aehle
- Chair for Scientific Computing, University of Kaiserslautern-Landau, D-67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany
| | - Johan Alme
- Department of Physics and Technology, University of Bergen, NO-5007 Bergen, Norway
| | | | - Tea Bodova
- Department of Physics and Technology, University of Bergen, NO-5007 Bergen, Norway
| | | | | | - Viljar Eikeland
- Department of Physics and Technology, University of Bergen, NO-5007 Bergen, Norway
| | | | - Christoph Garth
- Scientific Visualization Lab, University of Kaiserslautern-Landau, D-67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany
| | - Nicolas R Gauger
- Chair for Scientific Computing, University of Kaiserslautern-Landau, D-67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany
| | - Ola Grøttvik
- Department of Physics and Technology, University of Bergen, NO-5007 Bergen, Norway
| | - Håvard Helstrup
- Department of Computer Science, Electrical Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, NO-5020 Bergen, Norway
| | | | - Ralf Keidel
- Center for Technology and Transfer (ZTT), University of Applied Sciences Worms, D-67549 Worms, Germany
- Chair for Scientific Computing, University of Kaiserslautern-Landau, D-67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany
| | - Chinorat Kobdaj
- Institute of Science, Suranaree University of Technology, Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand
| | - Tobias Kortus
- Center for Technology and Transfer (ZTT), University of Applied Sciences Worms, D-67549 Worms, Germany
| | - Viktor Leonhardt
- Scientific Visualization Lab, University of Kaiserslautern-Landau, D-67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany
| | - Shruti Mehendale
- Department of Physics and Technology, University of Bergen, NO-5007 Bergen, Norway
| | - Raju Ningappa Mulawade
- Center for Technology and Transfer (ZTT), University of Applied Sciences Worms, D-67549 Worms, Germany
| | - Odd Harald Odland
- Department of Physics and Technology, University of Bergen, NO-5007 Bergen, Norway
- Department of Oncology and Medical Physics, Haukeland University Hospital, NO-5021 Bergen, Norway
| | - George O'Neill
- Department of Physics and Technology, University of Bergen, NO-5007 Bergen, Norway
| | - Gábor Papp
- Institute for Physics, Eötvös Loránd University, 1/A Pázmány P. Sétány, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary
| | - Thomas Peitzmann
- Institute for Subatomic Physics, Utrecht University/Nikhef, Utrecht, Netherlands
| | | | - Pierluigi Piersimoni
- Department of Physics and Technology, University of Bergen, NO-5007 Bergen, Norway
- UniCamillus-Saint Camillus International University of Health Sciences, Rome, Italy
| | - Maksym Protsenko
- Research and Production Enterprise 'LTU' (RPELTU), Kharkiv, Ukraine
| | - Max Rauch
- Department of Physics and Technology, University of Bergen, NO-5007 Bergen, Norway
| | - Attiq Ur Rehman
- Department of Physics and Technology, University of Bergen, NO-5007 Bergen, Norway
| | - Matthias Richter
- Department of Physics and Technology, University of Bergen, NO-5007 Bergen, Norway
| | - Dieter Röhrich
- Department of Physics and Technology, University of Bergen, NO-5007 Bergen, Norway
| | - Joshua Santana
- Center for Technology and Transfer (ZTT), University of Applied Sciences Worms, D-67549 Worms, Germany
| | - Joao Seco
- Department of Biomedical Physics in Radiation Oncology, DKFZ-German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Arnon Songmoolnak
- Department of Physics and Technology, University of Bergen, NO-5007 Bergen, Norway
- Institute of Science, Suranaree University of Technology, Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand
| | - Ákos Sudár
- Wigner Research Centre for Physics, Budapest, Hungary
- Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Ganesh Tambave
- Center for Medical and Radiation Physics (CMRP), National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), Bhubaneswar, India
| | - Ihor Tymchuk
- Research and Production Enterprise 'LTU' (RPELTU), Kharkiv, Ukraine
| | - Kjetil Ullaland
- Department of Physics and Technology, University of Bergen, NO-5007 Bergen, Norway
| | | | - Lennart Volz
- Biophysics, GSI Helmholtz Center for Heavy Ion Research GmbH, Darmstadt, Germany
- Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Boris Wagner
- Department of Physics and Technology, University of Bergen, NO-5007 Bergen, Norway
| | - Steffen Wendzel
- Center for Technology and Transfer (ZTT), University of Applied Sciences Worms, D-67549 Worms, Germany
| | - Alexander Wiebel
- Center for Technology and Transfer (ZTT), University of Applied Sciences Worms, D-67549 Worms, Germany
| | - RenZheng Xiao
- Department of Physics and Technology, University of Bergen, NO-5007 Bergen, Norway
- College of Mechanical & Power Engineering, China Three Gorges University, Yichang, People's Republic of China
| | - Shiming Yang
- Department of Physics and Technology, University of Bergen, NO-5007 Bergen, Norway
| | - Sebastian Zillien
- Center for Technology and Transfer (ZTT), University of Applied Sciences Worms, D-67549 Worms, Germany
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Zhu M, Flampouri S, Stanforth A, Slopsema R, Diamond Z, LePain W, Langen K. Effect of the initial energy layer and spot placement parameters on IMPT delivery efficiency and plan quality. J Appl Clin Med Phys 2023; 24:e13997. [PMID: 37101399 PMCID: PMC10476974 DOI: 10.1002/acm2.13997] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/25/2022] [Revised: 03/14/2023] [Accepted: 04/05/2023] [Indexed: 04/28/2023] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE Improving efficiency of intensity modulated proton therapy (IMPT) treatment can be achieved by shortening the beam delivery time. The purpose of this study is to reduce the delivery time of IMPT, while maintaining the plan quality, by finding the optimal initial proton spot placement parameters. METHODS Seven patients previously treated in the thorax and abdomen with gated IMPT and voluntary breath-hold were included. In the clinical plans, the energy layer spacing (ELS) and spot spacing (SS) were set to 0.6-0.8 (as a scale factor of the default values). For each clinical plan, we created four plans with ELS increased to 1.0, 1.2, 1.4, and SS to 1.0 while keeping all other parameters unchanged. All 35 plans (130 fields) were delivered on a clinical proton machine and the beam delivery time was recorded for each field. RESULTS Increasing ELS and SS did not cause target coverage reduction. Increasing ELS had no effect on critical organ-at-risk (OAR) doses or the integral dose, while increasing SS resulted in slightly higher integral and selected OAR doses. Beam-on times were 48.4 ± 9.2 (range: 34.1-66.7) seconds for the clinical plans. Time reductions were 9.2 ± 3.3 s (18.7 ± 5.8%), 11.6 ± 3.5 s (23.1 ± 5.9%), and 14.7 ± 3.9 s (28.9 ± 6.1%) when ELS was changed to 1.0, 1.2, and 1.4, respectively, corresponding to 0.76-0.80 s/layer. SS change had a minimal effect (1.1 ± 1.6 s, or 1.9 ± 2.9%) on the beam-on time. CONCLUSION Increasing the energy layers spacing can reduce the beam delivery time effectively without compromising IMPT plan quality; increasing the SS had no meaningful impact on beam delivery time and resulted in plan-quality degradation in some cases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mingyao Zhu
- Department of Radiation OncologyEmory University School of MedicineAtlantaGeorgiaUSA
| | - Stella Flampouri
- Department of Radiation OncologyEmory University School of MedicineAtlantaGeorgiaUSA
| | - Alex Stanforth
- Mechanical Engineering, Nuclear Radiological Engineering & Medical PhysicsGeorgia Institute of TechnologyAtlantaGeorgiaUSA
- Emory HealthcareAtlantaGeorgiaUSA
| | - Roelf Slopsema
- Department of Radiation OncologyEmory University School of MedicineAtlantaGeorgiaUSA
| | - Zachary Diamond
- Mechanical Engineering, Nuclear Radiological Engineering & Medical PhysicsGeorgia Institute of TechnologyAtlantaGeorgiaUSA
- Emory HealthcareAtlantaGeorgiaUSA
| | - William LePain
- Mechanical Engineering, Nuclear Radiological Engineering & Medical PhysicsGeorgia Institute of TechnologyAtlantaGeorgiaUSA
- Emory HealthcareAtlantaGeorgiaUSA
| | - Katja Langen
- Department of Radiation OncologyEmory University School of MedicineAtlantaGeorgiaUSA
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Zhu YN, Zhang X, Lin Y, Lominska C, Gao H. An orthogonal matching pursuit optimization method for solving minimum-monitor-unit problems: Applications to proton IMPT, ARC and FLASH. Med Phys 2023; 50:4710-4720. [PMID: 37427749 PMCID: PMC11031273 DOI: 10.1002/mp.16577] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2022] [Revised: 05/22/2023] [Accepted: 06/11/2023] [Indexed: 07/11/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The intensities (i.e., number of protons in monitor unit [MU]) of deliverable proton spots need to be either zero or meet a minimum-MU (MMU) threshold, which is a nonconvex problem. Since the dose rate is proportionally associated with the MMU threshold, higher-dose-rate proton radiation therapy (RT) (e.g., efficient intensity modulated proton therapy (IMPT) and ARC proton therapy, and high-dose-rate-induced FLASH effect needs to solve the MMU problem with larger MMU threshold, which however makes the nonconvex problem more difficult to solve. PURPOSE This work will develop a more effective optimization method based on orthogonal matching pursuit (OMP) for solving the MMU problem with large MMU thresholds, compared to state-of-the-art methods, such as alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM), proximal gradient descent method (PGD), or stochastic coordinate descent method (SCD). METHODS The new method consists of two essential components. First, the iterative convex relaxation (ICR) method is used to determine the active sets for dose-volume planning constraints and decouple the MMU constraint from the rest. Second, a modified OMP optimization algorithm is used to handle the MMU constraint: the non-zero spots are greedily selected via OMP to form the solution set to be optimized, and then a convex constrained subproblem is formed and can be conveniently solved to optimize the spot weights restricted to this solution set via OMP. During this iterative process, the new non-zero spots localized via OMP will be adaptively added to or removed from the optimization objective. RESULTS The new method via OMP is validated in comparison with ADMM, PGD and SCD for high-dose-rate IMPT, ARC, and FLASH problems of large MMU thresholds, and the results suggest that OMP substantially improved the plan quality from PGD, ADMM and SCD in terms of both target dose conformality (e.g., quantified by max target dose and conformity index) and normal tissue sparing (e.g., mean and max dose). For example, in the brain case, the max target dose for IMPT/ARC/FLASH was 368.0%/358.3%/283.4% respectively for PGD, 154.4%/179.8%/150.0% for ADMM, 134.5%/130.4%/123.0% for SCD, while it was <120% in all scenarios for OMP; compared to PGD/ADMM/SCD, OMP improved the conformity index from 0.42/0.52/0.33 to 0.65 for IMPT and 0.46/0.60/0.61 to 0.83 for ARC. CONCLUSIONS A new OMP-based optimization algorithm is developed to solve the MMU problems with large MMU thresholds, and validated using examples of IMPT, ARC, and FLASH with substantially improved plan quality from ADMM, PGD, and SCD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ya-Nan Zhu
- Institute of Natural Sciences and School of Mathematics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Xiaoqun Zhang
- Institute of Natural Sciences and School of Mathematics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Yuting Lin
- Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Missouri, USA
| | - Chris Lominska
- Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Missouri, USA
| | - Hao Gao
- Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Missouri, USA
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8
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Wang W, Liu X, Yang Z, Liao Y, Li P, Zhao R, Qin B. Improving delivery efficiency using spots and energy layers reduction algorithms based on a large momentum acceptance beamline. Med Phys 2023; 50:5189-5200. [PMID: 37099491 DOI: 10.1002/mp.16420] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2022] [Revised: 04/06/2023] [Accepted: 04/06/2023] [Indexed: 04/27/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Intensity-modulated proton therapy (IMPT) is a well-known delivery method of proton therapy. Besides higher plan quality, reducing the delivery time is also essential to IMPT plans. It can enhance patient comfort, reduce treatment costs, and improve delivery efficiency. From the perspective of treatment efficacy, it contributes to mitigating the intra-fractional motions and improving the accuracy of radiotherapy, especially for moving tumors. PURPOSE However, there is a tradeoff problem between the plan quality and delivery time. We consider the potential of a large momentum acceptance (LMA) beamline and apply the spots and energy layers reduction method to reduce the delivery time. METHODS The delivery time for each field consists of the energy layer switching time, spot traveling time, and dose delivery time. The larger momentum spread and higher intensity beam offered by the LMA beamline contribute to reducing the total delivery time compared to the conventional beamline. In addition to the dose fidelity term, an L1 and logarithm items were added to the objective function to increase the sparsity of the low-weighted spots and energy layers. After that, the low-weighted spots and layers were iteratively excluded in the reduced plan, which reduced the energy layer switching time and spot traveling time. We used the standard, reduced, and LMA-reduced plans to validate the proposed method and tested it on prostate and nasopharyngeal cases. Then, we compared and evaluated the plan quality, treatment time, and plan robustness against delivery uncertainty. RESULTS Compared with the standard plans, the number of spots in the LMA-reduced plans was on average reduced by 13 400 (95.6%) for prostate cases and by 48 300 (80.7%) for nasopharyngeal cases and the number of energy layers was on average reduced by 49 (61.3%) for prostate cases and by 97 (50.5%) for nasopharyngeal cases. And, the delivery time of the LMA-reduced plans was shortened from 34.5 to 8.6 s for prostate cases and from 163.8 to 53.6 s for nasopharyngeal cases. The LMA-reduced plans had comparable robustness to the spot monitor unit (MU) error compared with the standard plans, but the LMA-reduced plans became more sensitive to spot position uncertainty. CONCLUSION The delivery efficiency can be significantly improved using the LMA beamline and spots and energy layers reduction strategies. The method is promising to improve the efficiency of motion mitigation strategies for treating moving tumors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wei Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Advanced Electromagnetic Engineering and Technology, School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Xu Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Advanced Electromagnetic Engineering and Technology, School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Zhiyong Yang
- Cancer Center, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Yicheng Liao
- State Key Laboratory of Advanced Electromagnetic Engineering and Technology, School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Peilun Li
- State Key Laboratory of Advanced Electromagnetic Engineering and Technology, School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Runxiao Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Advanced Electromagnetic Engineering and Technology, School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Bin Qin
- State Key Laboratory of Advanced Electromagnetic Engineering and Technology, School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
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9
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Qiu Z, Olberg S, den Hertog D, Ajdari A, Bortfeld T, Pursley J. Online adaptive planning methods for intensity-modulated radiotherapy. Phys Med Biol 2023; 68:10.1088/1361-6560/accdb2. [PMID: 37068488 PMCID: PMC10637515 DOI: 10.1088/1361-6560/accdb2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2022] [Accepted: 04/17/2023] [Indexed: 04/19/2023]
Abstract
Online adaptive radiation therapy aims at adapting a patient's treatment plan to their current anatomy to account for inter-fraction variations before daily treatment delivery. As this process needs to be accomplished while the patient is immobilized on the treatment couch, it requires time-efficient adaptive planning methods to generate a quality daily treatment plan rapidly. The conventional planning methods do not meet the time requirement of online adaptive radiation therapy because they often involve excessive human intervention, significantly prolonging the planning phase. This article reviews the planning strategies employed by current commercial online adaptive radiation therapy systems, research on online adaptive planning, and artificial intelligence's potential application to online adaptive planning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zihang Qiu
- Department of Business Analytics, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, United States of America
| | - Sven Olberg
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, United States of America
| | - Dick den Hertog
- Department of Business Analytics, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Ali Ajdari
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, United States of America
| | - Thomas Bortfeld
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, United States of America
| | - Jennifer Pursley
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, United States of America
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10
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Zhang Y, Trnkova P, Toshito T, Heijmen B, Richter C, Aznar M, Albertini F, Bolsi A, Daartz J, Bertholet J, Knopf A. A survey of practice patterns for real-time intrafractional motion-management in particle therapy. Phys Imaging Radiat Oncol 2023; 26:100439. [PMID: 37124167 PMCID: PMC10133874 DOI: 10.1016/j.phro.2023.100439] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2023] [Revised: 04/05/2023] [Accepted: 04/06/2023] [Indexed: 05/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Background and purpose Organ motion compromises accurate particle therapy delivery. This study reports on the practice patterns for real-time intrafractional motion-management in particle therapy to evaluate current clinical practice and wishes and barriers to implementation. Materials and methods An institutional questionnaire was distributed to particle therapy centres worldwide (7/2020-6/2021) asking which type(s) of real-time respiratory motion management (RRMM) methods were used, for which treatment sites, and what were the wishes and barriers to implementation. This was followed by a three-round DELPHI consensus analysis (10/2022) to define recommendations on required actions and future vision. With 70 responses from 17 countries, response rate was 100% for Europe (23/23 centres), 96% for Japan (22/23) and 53% for USA (20/38). Results Of the 68 clinically operational centres, 85% used RRMM, with 41% using both rescanning and active methods. Sixty-four percent used active-RRMM for at least one treatment site, mostly with gating guided by an external marker. Forty-eight percent of active-RRMM users wished to expand or change their RRMM technique. The main barriers were technical limitations and limited resources. From the DELPHI analysis, optimisation of rescanning parameters, improvement of motion models, and pre-treatment 4D evaluation were unanimously considered clinically important future focus. 4D dose calculation was identified as the top requirement for future commercial treatment planning software. Conclusion A majority of particle therapy centres have implemented RRMM. Still, further development and clinical integration were desired by most centres. Joint industry, clinical and research efforts are needed to translate innovation into efficient workflows for broad-scale implementation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ye Zhang
- Center for Proton Therapy, Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, Switzerland
| | - Petra Trnkova
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Toshiyuki Toshito
- Nagoya Proton Therapy Center, Nagoya City University West Medical Center, Nagoya, Japan
| | - Ben Heijmen
- Department of Radiotherapy, Erasmus University Medical Center (Erasmus MC), Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Christian Richter
- OncoRay - National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden - Rossendorf, Dresden, Germany
| | - Marianne Aznar
- Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, Division of Cancer Sciences, University of Manchester, United Kingdom
| | | | - Alexandra Bolsi
- Center for Proton Therapy, Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, Switzerland
| | - Juliane Daartz
- F. Burr Proton Therapy, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA
| | - Jenny Bertholet
- Division of Medical Radiation Physics and Department of Radiation Oncology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Antje Knopf
- Center for Proton Therapy, Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, Switzerland
- Institute for Medical Engineering and Medical Informatics, School of Life Science FHNW, Muttenz, Switzerland
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11
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Maradia V, Colizzi I, Meer D, Weber DC, Lomax AJ, Actis O, Psoroulas S. Universal and dynamic ridge filter for pencil beam scanning particle therapy: a novel concept for ultra-fast treatment delivery. Phys Med Biol 2022; 67. [DOI: 10.1088/1361-6560/ac9d1f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2022] [Accepted: 10/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Objective. In pencil beam scanning particle therapy, a short treatment delivery time is paramount for the efficient treatment of moving targets with motion mitigation techniques (such as breath-hold, rescanning, and gating). Energy and spot position change time are limiting factors in reducing treatment time. In this study, we designed a universal and dynamic energy modulator (ridge filter, RF) to broaden the Bragg peak, to reduce the number of energies and spots required to cover the target volume, thus lowering the treatment time. Approach. Our RF unit comprises two identical RFs placed just before the isocenter. Both RFs move relative to each other, changing the Bragg peak’s characteristics dynamically. We simulated different Bragg peak shapes with the RF in Monte Carlo simulation code (TOPAS) and validated them experimentally. We then delivered single-field plans with 1 Gy/fraction to different geometrical targets in water, to measure the dose delivery time using the RF and compare it with the clinical settings. Main results. Aligning the RFs in different positions produces different broadening in the Bragg peak; we achieved a maximum broadening of 2.5 cm. With RF we reduced the number of energies in a field by more than 60%, and the dose delivery time by 50%, for all geometrical targets investigated, without compromising the dose distribution transverse and distal fall-off. Significance. Our novel universal and dynamic RF allows for the adaptation of the Bragg peak broadening for a spot and/or energy layer based on the requirement of dose shaping in the target volume. It significantly reduces the number of energy layers and spots to cover the target volume, and thus the treatment time. This RF design is ideal for ultra-fast treatment delivery within a single breath-hold (5–10 s), efficient delivery of motion mitigation techniques, and small animal irradiation with ultra-high dose rates (FLASH).
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12
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Liang X, Beltran C, Liu C, Shen J, Bues M, Furutani KM. Investigation of the impact of machine operating parameters on beam delivery time and its correlation with treatment plan characteristics for synchrotron-based proton pencil beam spot scanning system. Front Oncol 2022; 12:1036139. [DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2022.1036139] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2022] [Accepted: 10/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
PurposeTo investigate the beam delivery time (BDT) reduction due to the improvement of machine parameters for Hitachi synchrotron-based proton PBS system.MethodsBDTs for representative treatment plans were calculated to quantitatively estimate the BDT improvement from our 2015 system at Mayo Clinic in Arizona to our system to be implemented in 2025 at Mayo Clinic in Florida, and to a hypothetical future system. To specifically assess how each incremental improvement in the operating parameters reduced the total BDT, for each plan, we simulated the BDT 10,368 times with various settings of the nine different operating parameters. The effect of each operating parameter on BDT reduction and its correlation with treatment plan characteristics were analyzed. The optimal number of multiple energy extraction (MEE) layers per spill for different systems was also investigated.ResultsThe median (range) decrease in BDT was 60% (56%-70%) from the 2015 to the 2025 system. The following incremental improvement in parameters of the 2015 system for the 2025 system played an important role in this decreased BDT: beam intensity (8 to 20 MU/s), recapture efficiency (50% to 80%), number of MEE layers per spill (4 to 8), scanning magnet preparation and verification time (1.9 to 0.95 msec), and MEE layer switch time (200 to 100 msec). Reducing the total spill change time and scanning magnet preparation and verification time from those of the 2025 system further reduced BDT in the hypothetical future system. 8 MEE layers per spill is optimal for a system with 50% recapture efficiency; 16 MEE layers per spill is optimal for a system with 80% recapture efficiency; and more than 16 MEE layers per spill is beneficial only for a system close to 100% recapture efficiency.ConclusionsWe systematically studied the effect of each machine operating parameter on the reduction in total BDT and its correlation with treatment plan characteristics. Our findings will aid new and existing synchrotron-based proton beam therapy centers to make balanced decisions on BDT benefits vs. costs when considering machine upgrade or new system selection.
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13
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Maradia V, van de Water S, Meer D, Weber DC, Lomax AJ, Psoroulas S. Ultra-fast pencil beam scanning proton therapy for locally advanced non-small-cell lung cancers: field delivery within a single breath-hold. Radiother Oncol 2022; 174:23-29. [PMID: 35788354 DOI: 10.1016/j.radonc.2022.06.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2022] [Revised: 06/03/2022] [Accepted: 06/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE The use of motion mitigation techniques such as breath-hold can reduce the dosimetric uncertainty of lung cancer proton therapy. We studied the feasibility of pencil beam scanning (PBS) proton therapy field delivery within a single breath-hold at PSI's Gantry 2. METHODS In PBS proton therapy, the delivery time for a field is determined by the beam-on time and the dead time between proton spots (the time required to change the energy and/or lateral position). We studied ways to reduce beam-on and lateral scanning time, without sacrificing dosimetric plan quality, aiming at a single field delivery time of 15 seconds at maximum. We tested this approach on 10 lung cases with varying target volumes. To reduce the beam-on time, we increased the beam current at the isocenter by developing new beam optics for PSI's PROSCAN beamline and Gantry 2. To reduce the dead time between the spots, we used spot-reduced plan optimization. RESULTS We found that it is possible to achieve conventional fractionated (2 Gy(RBE)/fraction) and hypofractionated (6 Gy(RBE)/fraction) field delivery times within a single breath-hold (<15 sec) for a variety non-small-cell lung cancer cases. CONCLUSION In summary, the combination of spot reduction and improved beam line transmission is a promising approach for the treatment of mobile tumours within clinically achievable breath-hold durations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vivek Maradia
- Paul Scherrer Institute, Switzerland; ETH Zurich, Switzerland.
| | - Steven van de Water
- Paul Scherrer Institute, Switzerland; Department of Radiation Oncology, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Cancer Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | | | - Damien C Weber
- Paul Scherrer Institute, Switzerland; University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland; University Hospital Bern, University of Bern, Switzerland
| | - Antony J Lomax
- Paul Scherrer Institute, Switzerland; ETH Zurich, Switzerland
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14
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Zhao L, Liu G, Chen S, Shen J, Zheng W, Qin A, Yan D, Li X, Ding X. Developing an accurate model of spot-scanning treatment delivery time and sequence for a compact superconducting synchrocyclotron proton therapy system. Radiat Oncol 2022; 17:87. [PMID: 35525993 PMCID: PMC9077949 DOI: 10.1186/s13014-022-02055-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2020] [Accepted: 04/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND A new compact superconducting synchrocyclotron single-room proton solution delivers pulsed proton beams to each spot through several irradiation bursts calculated by an iterative layer delivery algorithm. Such a mechanism results in a new beam parameter, burst switching time (BST) in the total beam delivery time (BDT) which has never been studied before. In this study, we propose an experimental approach to build an accurate BDT and sequence prediction model for this new proton solution. METHODS Test fields and clinical treatment plans were used to investigate each beam delivery parameter that impacted BDT. The machine delivery log files were retrospectively analyzed to quantitatively model energy layer switching time (ELST), spot switching time (SSWT), spot spill time (SSPT), and BST. A total of 102 clinical IMPT treatment fields' log files were processed to validate the accuracy of the BDT prediction model in comparison with the result from the current commercial system. Interplay effect is also investigated as a clinical application by comparing this new delivery system model with a conventional cyclotron accelerator model. RESULTS The study finds that BST depends on the amount of data to be transmitted between two sequential radiation bursts, including a machine irradiation log file of the previous burst and a command file to instruct the proton system to deliver the next burst. The 102 clinical treatment fields showed that the accuracy of each component of the BDT matches well between machine log files and BDT prediction model. More specifically, the difference of ELST, SSWT, SSPT, and BST were (- 3.1 ± 5.7)%, (5.9 ± 3.9)%, (2.6 ± 8.7)%, and (- 2.3 ± 5.3)%, respectively. The average total BDT was about (2.1 ± 3.0)% difference compared to the treatment log files, which was significantly improved from the current commercial proton system prediction (58 ± 15)%. Compared to the conventional cyclotron system, the burst technique from synchrocyclotron effectively reduced the interplay effect in mobile tumor treatment. CONCLUSION An accurate BDT and sequence prediction model was established for this new clinical compact superconducting synchrocyclotron single-room proton solution. Its application could help users of similar facilities better assess the interplay effect and estimate daily patient treatment throughput.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lewei Zhao
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Beaumont Health System, Royal Oak, MI, 48073, USA
| | - Gang Liu
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Beaumont Health System, Royal Oak, MI, 48073, USA.,Cancer Center, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, People's Republic of China
| | - Shupeng Chen
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Beaumont Health System, Royal Oak, MI, 48073, USA
| | - Jiajian Shen
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Mayo Clinic Arizona, Phoenix, AZ, 85054, USA
| | - Weili Zheng
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Beaumont Health System, Royal Oak, MI, 48073, USA
| | - An Qin
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Beaumont Health System, Royal Oak, MI, 48073, USA
| | - Di Yan
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Beaumont Health System, Royal Oak, MI, 48073, USA
| | - Xiaoqiang Li
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Beaumont Health System, Royal Oak, MI, 48073, USA
| | - Xuanfeng Ding
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Beaumont Health System, Royal Oak, MI, 48073, USA.
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15
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Schwarz M, Traneus E, Safai S, Kolano A, van de Water S. Treatment planning for Flash radiotherapy: general aspects and applications to proton beams. Med Phys 2022; 49:2861-2874. [PMID: 35213040 DOI: 10.1002/mp.15579] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2021] [Revised: 12/22/2021] [Accepted: 02/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
The increased radioresistence of healthy tissues when irradiated at very high dose rates (known as the Flash effect) is a radiobiological mechanism that is currently investigated in order to increase the therapeutic ratio of radiotherapy treatments. To maximize the benefits of the clinical application of Flash, a patient-specific balance between different properties of the dose distribution should be found, i.e. Flash needs to be one of the variables considered in treatment planning. We investigated the Flash potential of three proton therapy planning and beam delivery techniques, each on a different anatomical region. Based on a set of beam delivery parameters, on hypotheses on the dose and dose rate thresholds needed for the Flash effect to occur, and on two definitions of Flash dose rate, we generated exemplary illustrations of the capabilities of current proton therapy equipment to generate Flash dose distributions. All techniques investigated could both produce dose distributions comparable with a conventional proton plan and reach the Flash regime, to an extent that was strongly dependent on the dose per fraction and the Flash dose threshold. The beam current, Flash dose rate threshold and dose rate definition typically had a more moderate effect on the amount of Flash dose in normal tissue. A systematic estimation of the impact of Flash on different patient anatomies and treatment protocols is possible only if Flash-specific treatment planning features become readily available. Planning evaluation tools such as a voxel-based dose delivery time structure, and the inclusion in the optimization cost function of parameters directly associated with Flash (e.g. beam current, spot delivery sequence and scanning speed), are needed to generate treatment plans that are taking full advantage of the potential benefits of the Flash effect. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Schwarz
- Proton therapy Department, Trento Hospital and TIFPA-INFN, Trento, Italy
| | - Erik Traneus
- RaySearch Laboratories AB, Stockholm SE-103 65, Sweden
| | - Sairos Safai
- Center for Proton Therapy, Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, Switzerland
| | - Anna Kolano
- Advanced Oncotherapy plc, London, England - Application of Detectors and Accelerators to Medicine(ADAM), Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Steven van de Water
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Cancer Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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16
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Krieger M, van de Water S, Folkerts MM, Mazal A, Fabiano S, Bizzocchi N, Weber DC, Safai S, Lomax AJ. A quantitative FLASH effectiveness model to reveal potentials and pitfalls of high dose rate proton therapy. Med Phys 2022; 49:2026-2038. [PMID: 35032035 PMCID: PMC9305944 DOI: 10.1002/mp.15459] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2021] [Revised: 11/14/2021] [Accepted: 12/17/2021] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Purpose In ultrahigh dose rate radiotherapy, the FLASH effect can lead to substantially reduced healthy tissue damage without affecting tumor control. Although many studies show promising results, the underlying biological mechanisms and the relevant delivery parameters are still largely unknown. It is unclear, particularly for scanned proton therapy, how treatment plans could be optimized to maximally exploit this protective FLASH effect. Materials and Methods To investigate the potential of pencil beam scanned proton therapy for FLASH treatments, we present a phenomenological model, which is purely based on experimentally observed phenomena such as potential dose rate and dose thresholds, and which estimates the biologically effective dose during FLASH radiotherapy based on several parameters. We applied this model to a wide variety of patient geometries and proton treatment planning scenarios, including transmission and Bragg peak plans as well as single‐ and multifield plans. Moreover, we performed a sensitivity analysis to estimate the importance of each model parameter. Results Our results showed an increased plan‐specific FLASH effect for transmission compared with Bragg peak plans (19.7% vs. 4.0%) and for single‐field compared with multifield plans (14.7% vs. 3.7%), typically at the cost of increased integral dose compared to the clinical reference plan. Similar FLASH magnitudes were found across the different treatment sites, whereas the clinical benefits with respect to the clinical reference plan varied strongly. The sensitivity analysis revealed that the threshold dose as well as the dose per fraction strongly impacted the FLASH effect, whereas the persistence time only marginally affected FLASH. An intermediate dependence of the FLASH effect on the dose rate threshold was found. Conclusions Our model provided a quantitative measure of the FLASH effect for various delivery and patient scenarios, supporting previous assumptions about potentially promising planning approaches for FLASH proton therapy. Positive clinical benefits compared to clinical plans were achieved using hypofractionated, single‐field transmission plans. The dose threshold was found to be an important factor, which may require more investigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miriam Krieger
- Varian Medical Systems Particle Therapy GmbH & Co. KG, Troisdorf, 53842, Germany.,Center for Proton Therapy, Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, 5232, Switzerland
| | - Steven van de Water
- Center for Proton Therapy, Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, 5232, Switzerland
| | | | | | - Silvia Fabiano
- Center for Proton Therapy, Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, 5232, Switzerland.,Department of Physics, ETH Zurich, Zurich, 8092, Switzerland.,Department of Radiation Oncology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, 8091, Switzerland
| | - Nicola Bizzocchi
- Center for Proton Therapy, Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, 5232, Switzerland
| | - Damien C Weber
- Center for Proton Therapy, Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, 5232, Switzerland.,Department of Radiation Oncology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, 8091, Switzerland.,Department of Radiation Oncology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, Bern, 3010, Switzerland
| | - Sairos Safai
- Center for Proton Therapy, Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, 5232, Switzerland
| | - Antony J Lomax
- Center for Proton Therapy, Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, 5232, Switzerland.,Department of Physics, ETH Zurich, Zurich, 8092, Switzerland
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17
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Nenoff L, Matter M, Amaya EJ, Josipovic M, Knopf AC, Lomax AJ, Persson GF, Ribeiro CO, Visser S, Walser M, Weber DC, Zhang Y, Albertini F. Dosimetric influence of deformable image registration uncertainties on propagated structures for online daily adaptive proton therapy of lung cancer patients. Radiother Oncol 2021; 159:136-143. [PMID: 33771576 DOI: 10.1016/j.radonc.2021.03.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2020] [Revised: 03/14/2021] [Accepted: 03/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE A major burden of introducing an online daily adaptive proton therapy (DAPT) workflow is the time and resources needed to correct the daily propagated contours. In this study, we evaluated the dosimetric impact of neglecting the online correction of the propagated contours in a DAPT workflow. MATERIAL AND METHODS For five NSCLC patients with nine repeated deep-inspiration breath-hold CTs, proton therapy plans were optimised on the planning CT to deliver 60 Gy-RBE in 30 fractions. All repeated CTs were registered with six different clinically used deformable image registration (DIR) algorithms to the corresponding planning CT. Structures were propagated rigidly and with each DIR algorithm and reference structures were contoured on each repeated CT. DAPT plans were optimised with the uncorrected, propagated structures (propagated DAPT doses) and on the reference structures (ideal DAPT doses), non-adapted doses were recalculated on all repeated CTs. RESULTS Due to anatomical changes occurring during the therapy, the clinical target volume (CTV) coverage of the non-adapted doses reduces on average by 9.7% (V95) compared to an ideal DAPT doses. For the propagated DAPT doses, the CTV coverage was always restored (average differences in the CTV V95 < 1% compared to the ideal DAPT doses). Hotspots were always reduced with any DAPT approach. CONCLUSION For the patients presented here, a benefit of online DAPT was shown, even if the daily optimisation is based on propagated structures with some residual uncertainties. However, a careful (offline) structure review is necessary and corrections can be included in an offline adaption.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lena Nenoff
- Paul Scherrer Institute, Center for Proton Therapy, Switzerland; Department of Physics, ETH Zurich, Switzerland.
| | - Michael Matter
- Paul Scherrer Institute, Center for Proton Therapy, Switzerland; Department of Physics, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
| | | | - Mirjana Josipovic
- Department of Oncology, Rigshospitalet Copenhagen University Hospital, Denmark
| | - Antje-Christin Knopf
- Department of Radiation Oncology, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Antony John Lomax
- Paul Scherrer Institute, Center for Proton Therapy, Switzerland; Department of Physics, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Gitte F Persson
- Department of Oncology, Rigshospitalet Copenhagen University Hospital, Denmark; Department of Oncology, Herlev-Gentofte Hospital Copenhagen University Hospital, Denmark; Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Cássia O Ribeiro
- Department of Radiation Oncology, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Sabine Visser
- Department of Radiation Oncology, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Marc Walser
- Paul Scherrer Institute, Center for Proton Therapy, Switzerland
| | - Damien Charles Weber
- Paul Scherrer Institute, Center for Proton Therapy, Switzerland; Department of Radiation Oncology, University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland; Department of Radiation Oncology, University Hospital Bern, Switzerland
| | - Ye Zhang
- Paul Scherrer Institute, Center for Proton Therapy, Switzerland
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