A graphical user interface (GUI) toolkit for the calculation of three-dimensional (3D) multi-phase biological...

Area of Science:

• Medical Physics
• Radiation Oncology
• Radiotherapy Treatment Planning

Background:

• Accurate calculation of 3D biological effective dose (BED) is crucial for advanced radiotherapy techniques.
• Multi-phase and multi-prescription treatments require sophisticated tools for dose and BED distribution analysis.
• Existing methods may lack the capability to handle complex treatment scenarios comprehensively.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and present a GUI toolkit for calculating 3D BED distributions in external beam radiotherapy.
• To enable analysis of multi-phase treatments, including liver SBRT and multi-prescription scenarios.
• To provide statistical results and visualize dose/BED distributions for improved treatment assessment.

Main Methods:

• Development of a MATLAB-based GUI toolkit utilizing dose matrices, organ contours, and TPS parameters.
• Implementation of calculations for multi-phase BED distributions using both true and approximate formulas.
• Visualization of dose and BED distributions in coronal, sagittal, and transverse projections.

Main Results:

• The toolkit successfully calculates 3D BED distributions for various radiotherapy cases.
• Demonstrated capability in analyzing primary and boost phases for brain, head & neck, and prostate cancers.
• Quantified inaccuracy and imprecision associated with approximate BED calculations.

Conclusions:

• The developed toolkit offers a valuable resource for calculating and analyzing 3D BED distributions in complex radiotherapy.
• It supports multi-phase and multi-prescription treatments, enhancing treatment planning accuracy.
• The toolkit has significant potential clinical impact in optimizing radiotherapy delivery and outcomes.