Active Tracking and Dynamic Dose Delivery for robotic couch in radiation therapy

Area of Science:

• Medical Physics
• Radiation Oncology
• Robotics

Background:

• Accurate radiation dose delivery is crucial in external beam radiation therapy.
• Tumor motion due to cardiac and respiratory activity complicates precise targeting in thoracic and abdominal organs.
• This motion affects treatment efficacy and increases risks to surrounding healthy tissues.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the Active Tracking and Dynamic Dose Delivery (ATDD) technique for real-time tumor motion compensation.
• To address challenges in radiation therapy for moving tumors in organs like the lung, liver, and prostate.
• To enhance treatment precision and minimize off-target radiation exposure.

Main Methods:

• The study details the ATDD technique, which employs a robotic treatment table that moves dynamically during radiation delivery.
• This system compensates for breathing-induced tumor motion in real-time.
• Feedforward adaptive control strategies were implemented to manage uncertainties in patient mass and breathing patterns.

Main Results:

• The ATDD technique enables real-time compensation for tumor motion during radiation therapy.
• Adaptive control minimizes irradiation of healthy tissues and spares critical organs.
• Prescribed radiation dose coverage to the target volume is maintained despite tumor movement.

Conclusions:

• The ATDD technique offers a viable solution for accurate radiation dose delivery in the presence of significant tumor motion.
• Feedforward adaptive control effectively manages system uncertainties, improving treatment safety and efficacy.
• This approach holds promise for improving outcomes in radiation oncology for mobile tumors.