Pseudo optimization of radiotherapy treatment planning

Area of Science:

• Medical Physics
• Radiation Oncology
• Computational Biology

Background:

• External beam radiotherapy (EBRT) treatment planning traditionally involves significant manual intervention.
• Optimizing beam incidence, weighting, and wedging is crucial for effective dose distribution.
• Automating these processes can enhance efficiency and potentially improve treatment consistency.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate an automated computer program chain for EBRT treatment planning.
• To minimize manual intervention in selecting beam configurations and calculating dose distributions.
• To assess the system's performance in clinical settings.

Main Methods:

• A three-program chain was developed for automated treatment planning.
• The first program evaluates and selects optimal beam incidence combinations using score functions.
• Subsequent programs calculate beam weights and wedges, judge dose distributions, and determine the final isodose pattern.

Main Results:

• The developed program chain successfully automates key aspects of EBRT treatment planning.
• The system utilizes coarse and detailed score functions for judging incidence directions and dose distributions.
• Initial results indicate the feasibility and potential of this automated approach in clinical practice.

Conclusions:

• The automated computer program chain offers a viable alternative to manual intervention in EBRT planning.
• This system has the potential to improve efficiency and consistency in radiotherapy treatment.
• Further clinical evaluation is warranted to fully establish its impact on patient outcomes.