| 1. |
- Carlsson, Fredrik
(författare)
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Combining segment generation with direct step-and-shoot optimization in intensity-modulated radiation therapy
- 2008
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Ingår i: Medical physics (Lancaster). - : Wiley. - 0094-2405. ; 35:9, s. 3828-3838
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A method for generating a sequence of intensity-modulated radiation therapy step-and-shoot plans with increasing number of segments is presented. The objectives are to generate high-quality plans with few, large and regular segments, and to make the planning process more intuitive. The proposed method combines segment generation with direct step-and-shoot optimization, where leaf positions and segment weights are optimized simultaneously. The segment generation is based on a column generation approach. The method is evaluated on a test suite consisting of five head-and-neck cases and five prostate cases, planned for delivery with an Elekta SLi accelerator. The adjustment of segment shapes by direct step-and-shoot optimization improves the plan quality compared to using fixed segment shapes. The improvement in plan quality when adding segments is larger for plans with few segments. Eventually, adding more segments contributes very little to the plan quality, but increases the plan complexity. Thus, the method provides a tool for controlling the number of segments and, indirectly, the delivery time. This can support the planner in finding a sound trade-off between plan quality and treatment complexity.
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| 2. |
- Carlsson, Fredrik, et al.
(författare)
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Iterative regularization in intensity-modulated radiation therapy optimization
- 2006
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Ingår i: Medical physics (Lancaster). - : Wiley. - 0094-2405. ; 33:1, s. 225-234
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A common way to solve intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) optimization problems is to use a beamlet-based approach. The approach is usually employed in a three-step manner: first a beamlet-weight optimization problem is solved, then the fluence profiles are converted into stepand-shoot segments, and finally postoptimization of the segment weights is performed. A drawback of beamlet-based approaches is that beamlet-weight optimization problems are ill-conditioned and have to be regularized in order to produce smooth fluence profiles that are suitable for conversion. The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to explain the suitability of solving beamlet-based IMRT problems by a BFGS quasi-Newton sequential quadratic programming method with diagonal initial Hessian estimate, and second, to empirically show that beamlet-weight optimization problems should be solved in relatively few iterations when using this optimization method. The explanation of the suitability is based on viewing the optimization method as an iterative regularization method. In iterative regularization, the optimization problem is solved approximately by iterating long enough to obtain a solution close to the optimal one, but terminating before too much noise occurs. Iterative regularization requires an optimization method that initially proceeds in smooth directions and makes rapid initial progress. Solving ten beamlet-based IMRT problems with dose-volume objectives and bounds on the beamlet-weights, we find that the considered optimization method fulfills the requirements for performing iterative regularization. After segment-weight optimization, the treatments obtained using 35 beamlet-weight iterations outperform the treatments obtained using 100 beamlet-weight iterations, both in terms of objective value and of target uniformity. We conclude that iterating too long may in fact deteriorate the quality of the deliverable plan.
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| 3. |
- Fredenberg, Erik, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
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An efficient pre-object collimator based on an x-ray lens
- 2009
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Ingår i: Medical physics (Lancaster). - : Wiley. - 0094-2405. ; 36:2, s. 626-633
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A multiprism lens (MPL) is a refractive x-ray lens with one-dimensional focusing properties. If used as a pre-object collimator in a scanning system for medical x-ray imaging, it reduces the divergence of the radiation and improves on photon economy compared to a slit collimator. Potential advantages include shorter acquisition times, a reduced tube loading, or improved resolution. We present the first images acquired with a MPL in a prototype for a scanning mammography system. The lens showed a gain of flux of 1.32 compared to a slit collimator at equal resolution, or a gain in resolution of 1.31–1.44 at equal flux. We expect the gain of flux in a clinical setup with an optimized MPL and a custom-made absorption filter to reach 1.67, or 1.45–1.54 gain in resolution.
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| 4. |
- Ruschin, Mark, et al.
(författare)
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Dose dependence of mass and microcalcification detection in digital mammography: free response human observer studies.
- 2007
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Ingår i: Medical physics. - : Wiley. - 0094-2405. ; 34:2, s. 400-7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of dose reduction in digital mammography on the detection of two lesion types-malignant masses and clusters of microcalcifications. Two free-response observer studies were performed-one for each lesion type. Ninety screening images were retrospectively selected; each image was originally acquired under automatic exposure conditions, corresponding to an average glandular dose of 1.3 mGy for a standard breast (50 mm compressed breast thickness with 50% glandularity). For each study, one to three simulated lesions were added to each of 40 images (abnormals) while 50 were kept without lesions (normals). Two levels of simulated system noise were added to the images yielding two new image sets, corresponding to simulated dose levels of 50% and 30% of the original images (100%). The manufacturer's standard display processing was subsequently applied to all images. Four radiologists experienced in mammography evaluated the images by searching for lesions and marking and assigning confidence levels to suspicious regions. The search data were analyzed using jackknife free-response (JA-FROC) methodology. For the detection of masses, the mean figure-of-merit (FOM) averaged over all readers was 0.74, 0.71, and 0.68 corresponding to dose levels of 100%, 50%, and 30%, respectively. These values were not statistically different from each other (F= 1.67, p=0.19) but showed a decreasing trend. In contrast, in the microcalcification study the mean FOM was 0.93, 0.67, and 0.38 for the same dose levels and these values were all significantly different from each other (F = 109.84, p < 0.0001). The results indicate that lowering the present dose level by a factor of two compromised the detection of microcalcifications but had a weaker effect on mass detection.
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