Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Direct aperture optimization: a turnkey solution for step-and-shoot IMRT.

D M Shepard1, M A Earl, X A Li

  • 1University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Radiation Oncology, Baltimore 21201-1595, USA.

Medical Physics
|July 4, 2002
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

The effect of donepezil treatment on cardiovascular mortality.

Clinical pharmacology and therapeutics·2010
Same author

Targeting pancreatic and ovarian carcinomas using the auristatin-based anti-CD70 antibody-drug conjugate SGN-75.

British journal of cancer·2010
Same author

Establishment and characterization of immortalized porcine hepatocytes for the study of hepatocyte xenotransplantation.

Transplantation proceedings·2010
Same author

Association of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor-associated angioedema with transplant and immunosuppressant use.

Allergy·2010
Same author

Constructing defined chromosome segmental duplications in maize.

Cytogenetic and genome research·2010
Same author

Predicting the radiation exposure of terrestrial wildlife in the Chernobyl exclusion zone: an international comparison of approaches.

Journal of radiological protection : official journal of the Society for Radiological Protection·2010
Same journal

Correction to "On the shape of the radiation survival curve in tumor spheroids: The role of oxygen heterogeneity".

Medical physics·2026
Same journal

Multi-view constrained semi-supervised vertebra detection for 3D ultrasound spine volume.

Medical physics·2026
Same journal

Accuracy of quantitative <sup>177</sup>Lu SPECT/CT imaging: A systematic review.

Medical physics·2026
Same journal

Physics-constrained dual-domain network for CBCT reconstruction from orthogonal X-rays in gynecologic radiotherapy.

Medical physics·2026
Same journal

Decomposition-based harmonization for quantitative PET imaging across scanners and radiotracers.

Medical physics·2026
Same journal

Development and evaluation of an in vivo dose-based monitoring system for electron FLASH radiation therapy.

Medical physics·2026
See all related articles

Direct aperture optimization streamlines Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) planning by directly optimizing beam shapes, reducing treatment complexity and delivery time. This method enhances efficiency while preserving IMRT

Area of Science:

  • Medical Physics
  • Radiation Oncology
  • Computational Biology

Background:

  • Traditional Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) planning for step-and-shoot delivery involves optimizing intensity maps followed by leaf sequencing.
  • This conventional approach can lead to complex treatment plans with numerous beam segments.
  • Machine-dependent delivery constraints, such as those from a multi-leaf collimator (MLC), are typically addressed in a separate step after intensity optimization.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To introduce and evaluate a novel automated planning system called Direct Aperture Optimization (DAO).
  • To bypass traditional intensity map optimization in IMRT.
  • To directly optimize aperture shapes and weights for step-and-shoot delivery, allowing user-defined control over plan complexity.

Main Methods:

Related Experiment Videos

  • Directly optimized aperture shapes and weights simultaneously with leaf settings using a simulated annealing algorithm.
  • Integrated machine-dependent delivery constraints (MLC) within the aperture optimization process.
  • Validated the DAO approach using the EGS4/BEAM Monte Carlo package for dose calculations across various patient cases.

Main Results:

  • DAO successfully generated highly conformal step-and-shoot IMRT plans.
  • Plans were achieved using a significantly reduced number of apertures per beam direction (3-5).
  • DAO resulted in a notable decrease in the number of beam segments and monitor units compared to traditional methods.

Conclusions:

  • Direct Aperture Optimization offers a more efficient method for creating IMRT treatment plans.
  • This technique simplifies treatment delivery by reducing complexity while maintaining dosimetric accuracy.
  • DAO provides enhanced control over treatment plan complexity and improves overall treatment efficiency.