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Beam-centric algorithm for pretreatment patient position correction in external beam radiation therapy.
Supratik Bose1, Himanshu Shukla, Jonathan Maltz
1Oncology Care Systems Group, Siemens Medical Solutions, 4040 Nelson Avenue, Concord, California 94520, USA. supratikbose@yahoo.com
Medical Physics
|June 10, 2010
Summary
This study presents a new algorithm for patient positioning in radiation therapy. It improves accuracy by modeling treatment beams, reducing geometric error by up to 12% compared to standard methods.
Area of Science:
- Medical Physics
- Radiation Oncology
- Image-Guided Therapy
Background:
- Current image-guided patient positioning methods often compromise accuracy due to hardware limitations in degrees of freedom (DOF).
- Accurate patient alignment is crucial for effective radiation therapy delivery.
Purpose of the Study:
- To present a flexible algorithm for optimal patient positioning adjustments in image-guided radiation therapy.
- To demonstrate that modeling planned treatment beams can improve accuracy without requiring specialized hardware.
Main Methods:
- Developed a geometric algorithm incorporating beam shape and polygonal intersection with the isocentric plane.
- Calculated ideal vertex positions under virtual six-DOF correction.
- Determined couch, gantry, and collimator adjustments to minimize geometric mismatch.
Main Results:
- Achieved 7% residual geometric error in a simulated plan and 6% in a clinical head-and-neck IMRT plan.
- Standard couch translation alone resulted in an 18% mismatch.
- Demonstrated clinically significant improvements in dose volume histograms.
Conclusions:
- The algorithm enhances delivery accuracy with standard hardware, minimizing treatment time.
- It promotes efficient use of available degrees of freedom.
- May reduce the need for robotic couches in certain patient positioning scenarios.
