| 1. |
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| 2. |
- Sarudis, Sebastian, 1981, et al.
(author)
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Dosimetric effects of respiratory motion during stereotactic body radiation therapy of lung tumors
- 2022
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In: Acta Oncologica. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0284-186X .- 1651-226X. ; 61:8, s. 1004-1011
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background Respiratory-induced lung tumor motion may affect the delivered dose in stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT). Previous studies are often based on phantom studies for one specific treatment technique. In this study, the dosimetric effect of tumor motion was quantified in real patient geometries for different modulated treatments and tumor motion amplitudes for lung-SBRT. Material and Methods A simulation method using deformable image registrations and 4-dimensional computed tomographies (4DCT) was developed to assess the dosimetric effects of tumor motion. The method was evaluated with ionization chamber and Gafchromic film measurements in a thorax phantom and used to simulate the effect for 15 patients with lung tumors moving 7.3-27.4 mm. Four treatment plans with different complexities were created for each patient and the motion-induced dosimetric effect to the gross tumor volume (GTV) was simulated. The difference between the planned dose to the static tumor and the simulated delivered dose to the moving tumor was quantified for the near minimum (D-98%), near maximum (D-2%) and mean dose (D-mean) to the GTV as well as the largest observed local difference within the GTV (Max(diff)). Results No correlation was found between the dose differences and the tumor motion amplitude or plan complexity. However, the largest deviations were observed for tumors moving >15.0 mm. The simulated delivered dose was within 2.5% from the planned dose for D-98% (tumors moving <15 mm) and within 3.3% (tumors moving >15 mm). The corresponding values were 1.7% vs. 6.4% (D-2%); 1.7% vs. 2.4% (D-mean) and 8.9% vs. 35.2% (Max(diff)). Using less complex treatment techniques minimized Max(diff) for tumors moving >15.0 mm. Conclusion The dosimetric effects of respiratory-induced motion during lung SBRT are patient and plan specific. The magnitude of the dosimetric effect cannot be assessed solely based upon tumor motion amplitude or plan complexity.
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| 3. |
- Sarudis, Sebastian, 1981, et al.
(author)
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Surface guided frameless positioning for lung stereotactic body radiation therapy
- 2021
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In: Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics. - : Wiley. - 1526-9914. ; 22:9, s. 215-226
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background and purpose: When treating lung tumors with stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT), patient immobilization is of outmost importance. In this study, the intra-fractional shifts of the patient (based on bony anatomy) and the tumor (based on the visible target volume) are quantified, and the associated impact on the delivered dose is estimated for a frameless immobilization approach in combination with surface guided radiation therapy (SGRT) monitoring. Methods: Cone beam computed tomographies (CBCT) were collected in free breathing prior and after each treatment for 25 patients with lung tumors, in total 137 fractions. The CBCT collected after each treatment was registered to the CBCT collected before each treatment with focus on bony anatomy to determine the shift of the patient, and with focus on the visible target volume to determine the shift of the tumor. Rigid registrations with 6 degrees of freedom were used. The patients were positioned in frameless immobilizations with their position and respiration continuously monitored by a commercial SGRT system. The patients were breathing freely within a preset gating window during treatment delivery. The beam was automatically interrupted if isocenter shifts >4 mm or breathing amplitudes outside the gating window were detected by the SGRT system. The time between the acquisition of the CBCTs was registered for each fraction to examine correlations between treatment time and patient shift. The impact of the observed shifts on the dose to organs at risk (OAR) and the gross tumor volume (GTV) was assessed. Results: The shift of the patient in the CBCTs was <= 2 mm for 132/137 fractions in the vertical (vrt) and lateral (lat) directions, and 134/137 fractions in the longitudinal (lng) direction and <= 4 mm in 134/137 (vrt) and 137/137 (lat, lng) of the fractions. The shift of the tumor was <= 2 mm in 116/137 (vrt), 123/137 (lat) and 115/137 (lng) fractions and <= 4 mm in 136/137 (vrt), 137/137 (lat), and 135/137 (lng) fractions. The maximal observed shift in the evaluated CBCT data was 4.6 mm for the patient and 7.2 mm for the tumor. Rotations were <= 3.3 degrees for all fractions and the mean/standard deviation were 0.2/1.0 degrees (roll), 0.1/0.8 degrees; (yaw), and 0.3/1.0 degrees (pitch). The SGRT system interrupted the beam due to intra-fractional isocenter shifts >4 mm for 21% of the fractions, but the patients always returned within tolerance without the need of repositioning. The maximal observed isocenter shift by the SGRT system during the beam holds was 8 mm. For the respiration monitoring, the beam was interrupted at least one time for 54% of the fractions. The visual tumor was within the planned internal target volume (ITV) for 136/137 fractions in the evaluated CBCT data collected at the end of each fraction. For the fraction where the tumor was outside the ITV, the D-98% for the GTV decreased with 0.4 Gy. For the OARs, the difference between planned and estimated dose from the CBCT data (D-2% or D-mean) was <= 2.6% of the prescribed PTV dose. No correlation was found between treatment time and the magnitude of the patient shift. Conclusions: Using SGRT for motion management and respiration monitoring in combination with a frameless immobilization is a feasible approach for lung SBRT.
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| 4. |
- Terzidis, Emmanouil, 1994, et al.
(author)
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Assessing the fraction of dose originating from the penumbra region for plans of varied complexity
- 2024
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In: European Congress of Radiation Oncology (2024.
-
Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Purpose: The absorbed dose delivered to the patient that originates from a penumbra region have larger uncertainties compared to the dose delivered from the center of the treatment field. 1,2 The magnitude of these uncertainties could be important input when evaluating absorbed dose to organs at risk (OARs) and target volumes. The aim of this work was to examine the fraction of penumbra dose in three-dimensions (3D) for volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) plans of different complexities. Methods and Materials: A C# software was developed in our department, able to calculate the fraction of penumbra dose in relation to the total dose in each voxel and visualize it as a 3D distribution (penumbra map). Twelve treatment plans of previously treated patients have been selected to represent different types of treatment geometry and different treatment sites (prostate, head & neck, lung and gynecological cancer). The clinical plan used for the actual treatment of the patient was reoptimized in Eclipse TPS (Varian Medical Systems, Palo Alto, CA), to create one plan with reduced complexity (“simple plan”) and one of higher complexity (“complex plan”). These additional plans were generated by altering the monitor unit constraint and the aperture shape controller level, while retaining a similar dose distribution. The fraction of penumbra dose was calculated for both the clinical and the newly generated plans creating in total 36 penumbra maps. Results: The generated penumbra maps were able to highlight anatomical regions with high fraction of penumbra dose (e.g., above 50%). These regions were mostly observed outside the planning target volume (PTV), regardless of treatment site and complexity level. Generally, the fraction of penumbra dose, both inside and outside the PTV, was increased with increased plan complexity. The average fraction of penumbra dose for the body, PTV and an example OAR are shown in Table 1 across all analyzed plans. For certain cases, the absorbed dose in parts of OARs originated from penumbra regions to a considerable degree, even for the least complex version of the plan. Examples are shown in Figure 1 featuring the rectum in a prostate plan and the parotid glands in a head & neck plan. Conclusion: The proposed method functions as a tool for assessing the extent to which the dose to certain voxels is influenced by the penumbra. A link was established between increased complexity and increased mean fraction of penumbra dose. Therefore, this approach could be used to quantify the complexity of the treatment plan in 3D
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| 5. |
- Terzidis, Emmanouil, 1994, et al.
(author)
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Uppskattning av dosimetriska osäkerheter baserat på andel dos från penumbraregionen för VMAT-planer av olika komplexitet
- 2023
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In: Nationellt möte om sjukhusfysik 2023.
-
Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Absorbed dose delivered to the patient from a penumbra region have higher uncertainties compared to the dose delivered from the center of the treatment field. The magnitude of these uncertainties could be important input when evaluating absorbed dose to organs at risk (OARs) and target volumes, especially for plans of increased complexity. The aim of this work was to examine the fraction of penumbra dose in 3D for VMAT plans of different complexities. Methods and Materials: A C# software was developed in our department, able to estimate the fraction of penumbral dose in relation to the total dose, in each voxel and visualize it as a 3D distribution (uncertainty map). Twelve treatment plans of previously treated patients have been selected to represent different types of treatment geometry and different types of diagnose (prostate, head & neck, lung and gynecological cancer). The clinical plan used for the actual treatment of the patient was reoptimized in Eclipse TPS (Varian Medical Systems, Palo Alto, CA), to create one plan with reduced complexity (“simple plan”) and one of higher complexity (“complex plan”). These additional plans were generated by altering the MU constraint and the aperture shape controller (ASC) level, while retaining a similar dose distribution. The fraction of penumbra dose was calculated for both the clinical and the newly generated plans creating in total 36 uncertainty maps. Results: The generated uncertainty maps were able to highlight anatomical regions with high fraction of penumbra dose (e.g., above 50%). These regions were mostly observed outside the planning target volume (PTV). Generally, the fraction of penumbra dose, both inside and outside the PTV, was increased with increased plan complexity. For certain cases, the absorbed dose in OARs originated from penumbra regions to a considerable degree, even for the least complex version of the plan. An example is shown for the rectum in Figure 1. This observation proves the importance of evaluating dosimetric uncertainty in 3D. Conclusion: A connection was established between dose uncertainty due to fraction of penumbra dose and plan complexity. Furthermore, it is important to evaluate this uncertainty on a 3D-voxel-level.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Chakarova, Roumiana, et al.
(author)
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Superficial dose distribution in breast for tangential radiation treatment, Monte Carlo evaluation of Eclipse algorithms in case of phantom and patient geometries.
- 2011
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In: Radiotherapy and oncology : journal of the European Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology. - : Elsevier BV. - 1879-0887.
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to examine experimentally and by the Monte Carlo method the accuracy of the Eclipse Pencil Beam Convolution (PBC) and Analytical Anisotropic Algorithm (AAA) algorithms in the superficial region (0-2cm) of the breast for tangential photon beams in a phantom case as well as in a number of patient geometries. The aim is also to identify differences in how the patient computer tomography data are handled by the treatment planning system and in the Monte Carlo simulations in order to reduce influences of these effects on the evaluation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Measurements by thermoluminescent dosimeters and gafchromic film are performed for six MV tangential irradiation of the cylindrical solid water phantom. Tangential treatment of seven patients is investigated considering open beams. Dose distributions are obtained by the Eclipse PBC and AAA algorithms. Monte Carlo calculations are carried out by BEAMnrc/DOSXYZnrc code package. Calculations are performed with a calculation grid of 1.25×1.25×5mm(3) for PBC and 2×2×5mm(3) for AAA and Monte Carlo, respectively. Dose comparison is performed in both dose and spatial domains by the normalized dose difference method. RESULTS: Experimental profiles from the surface toward the geometrical center of the cylindrical phantom are obtained at the beam entrance and exit as well as laterally. Full dose is received beyond 2mm in the lateral superficial region and beyond 7mm at the beam entrance. Good agreement between experimental, Monte Carlo and AAA data is obtained, whereas PBC is seen to underestimate the entrance dose the first 3-4mm and the lateral dose by more than 5% up to 8mm depth. In the patient cases considered, AAA and Monte Carlo show agreement within 3% dose and 4mm spatial tolerance. PBC systematically underestimates the dose at the breast apex. The dimensions of region out of tolerance vary with the local breast shape. Different interpretations of patient boundaries in Monte Carlo and the Eclipse are found to influence the evaluation. Computer tomography marker wire may introduce local disturbance effects on the comparison as well. These factors are not related to the accuracy of the calculation algorithms and their effect is taken into account in the evaluation. CONCLUSIONS: The accuracy of AAA in the case of the solid water phantom is comparable with that of the Monte Carlo method. The AAA-Monte Carlo differences in the patient cases considered are within 3%, 4mm tolerance. The PBC algorithm does not give equivalent results. In the phantom case, PBC underestimates the lateral dose by more than 5% up to 8mm depth. The PBC-Monte Carlo differences in the patient cases are outside the tolerance at the breast apex. The dimension of region varies with the breast shape being typically 8-10mm long and 6-8mm deep.
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| 8. |
- Hedin, Emma, 1985, et al.
(author)
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Impact of lung density on the lung dose estimation for radiotherapy of breast cancer
- 2017
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In: Physics and Imaging in Radiation Oncology. - : Elsevier BV. - 2405-6316. ; 3, s. 5-10
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background and purpose: To investigate the impact of the clinical implementation particle transport method on the lung dose evaluation for radiotherapy of breast cancer focusing on dosimetric effects of the lung density. Material and methods: Fourteen patients with left sided breast cancer having both deep inspiration breath hold (DIBH) and free breathing CT scans were studied. Lung density variations for 157 patients treated under DIBH were quantified and the cases with the lowest lung densities for breast and for loco regional treatment added to the study. Dose calculations were performed with the class-b type algorithm AAA and the deterministic algorithm Acuros XB. Monte Carlo method was utilized as reference. Differences in the dose distributions were evaluated by comparing DVH parameters. Results: Lung density variations between 0.08 and 0.3 g/cm3 and between 0.02 and 0.25 g/cm3 were found for loco-regional and tangential breast treatments under DIBH, respectively. Lung DVH parameters for patients with medium and high lung density obtained by the different algorithms agreed within 3%. Larger differences were observed for low lung density cases where the correction based algorithm underestimated V10Gy and overestimated V40Gy by up to 5%. The least affected parameter, V20Gy, deviated by less than 2% for all cases and densities. Conclusions: Dosimetric constrains for lung based on V20Gy required minimum changes due to implementation of the new algorithm regardless of breathing technique or type of treatment. Evaluation criteria utilizing V10Gy or V40Gy needed reconsideration, especially for treatments under DIBH involving low lung density.
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| 9. |
- Hedin, Emma, 1985, et al.
(author)
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Implementation of Acuros XB in Treatment Planning of SBRT of Lung Cancer
- 2017
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In: Annals of Radiation Therapy and Oncology. - 2577-8757. ; 1:2
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Goal: The overall goal of this study is to present data assisting the implementation of the principle based dose calculation algorithm Acuros XB for Stereotactic Body Radiation Treatments (SBRT) of lung tumors. In particular, the goal is to investigate differences in target dose distributions calculated by the clinical algorithms AAA and Acuros XB as well as by the Monte Carlo method. Materials and Methods: Twenty conventional 3D conformal plans for SBRT of lung cancer were investigated. The prescribed dose was 3 Gy × 22 Gy at the center and 3 Gy × 15 Gy at the periphery of PTV. The plans were originally designed with AAA based on the requirement PTV-V100% (percentage of PTV receiving a dose larger than 100%=45 Gy), to be 100%. Recalculations were performed by utilizing Acuros XB as well as by full Monte Carlo method. Dose variations were evaluated in terms of DVH parameters D5%, D50%, D98% for GTV and PTV as well as PTV-V100%. Five plans showing large algorithm sensitivity in terms of PTV-V100% were re-planned by Acuros XB using the same treatment planning criteria. Results: AAA systematically overestimated the PTV dose compared to Acuros XB and Monte Carlo. Differences between AAA and Acuros XB of up to 8%, 10% and 5% were observed for PTV-D50%, PTV-D98% and PTV-V100%, correspondingly. The values obtained by the Monte Carlo method were up to 7% lower than these for Acuros XB. The variations in the PTV dose estimation could not be related to patient/plan characteristics like target volume, lung tissue volume included in the target or tumor proximity to the lung wall. The variations in the GTV parameters were smaller and the agreement between AAA and AXB as well as between Acuros XB and Monte Carlo was within 3%. Planning with Acuros XB increased the volume of the lung tissue close to the tumor receiving full dose by more than 20%. Conclusion: PTV dose coverage was overestimated in plans calculated by AAA. Transition to Acuros XB without changing the treatment planning criteria increased the dose to the lung tissue close to the tumor. The GTV dose coverage was more robust with respect to the algorithm changes.
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| 10. |
- Hedin, Emma, 1985, et al.
(author)
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Influence of different dose calculation algorithms on the estimate of NTCP for lung complications.
- 2013
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In: Journal of applied clinical medical physics / American College of Medical Physics. - : Wiley. - 1526-9914. ; 14:5, s. 127-39
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Due to limitations and uncertainties in dose calculation algorithms, different algorithms can predict different dose distributions and dose-volume histograms for the same treatment. This can be a problem when estimating the normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) for patient-specific dose distributions. Published NTCP model parameters are often derived for a different dose calculation algorithm than the one used to calculate the actual dose distribution. The use of algorithm-specific NTCP model parameters can prevent errors caused by differences in dose calculation algorithms. The objective of this work was to determine how to change the NTCP model parameters for lung complications derived for a simple correction-based pencil beam dose calculation algorithm, in order to make them valid for three other common dose calculation algorithms. NTCP was calculated with the relative seriality (RS) and Lyman-Kutcher-Burman (LKB) models. The four dose calculation algorithms used were the pencil beam (PB) and collapsed cone (CC) algorithms employed by Oncentra, and the pencil beam convolution (PBC) and anisotropic analytical algorithm (AAA) employed by Eclipse. Original model parameters for lung complications were taken from four published studies on different grades of pneumonitis, and new algorithm-specific NTCP model parameters were determined. The difference between original and new model parameters was presented in relation to the reported model parameter uncertainties. Three different types of treatments were considered in the study: tangential and locoregional breast cancer treatment and lung cancer treatment. Changing the algorithm without the derivation of new model parameters caused changes in the NTCP value of up to 10 percentage points for the cases studied. Furthermore, the error introduced could be of the same magnitude as the confidence intervals of the calculated NTCP values. The new NTCP model parameters were tabulated as the algorithm was varied from PB to PBC, AAA, or CC. Moving from the PB to the PBC algorithm did not require new model parameters; however, moving from PB to AAA or CC did require a change in the NTCP model parameters, with CC requiring the largest change. It was shown that the new model parameters for a given algorithm are different for the different treatment types.
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| 11. |
- Hedin, Emma, 1985, et al.
(author)
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Jaw position uncertainty and adjacent fields in breast cancer radiotherapy.
- 2015
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In: Journal of applied clinical medical physics / American College of Medical Physics. - : Wiley. - 1526-9914. ; 16:6
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Locoregional treatment of breast cancer involves adjacent, half blocked fields matched at isocenter. The objective of this work is to study the dosimetric effects of the uncertainties in jaw positioning for such a case, and how a treatment planning protocol including adjacent field overlap of 1 mm affects the dose distribution. A representative treatment plan, involving 6 and 15 photon beams, for a patient treated at our hospital is chosen. Monte Carlo method (EGSnrc/BEAMnrc) is used to simulate the treatment. Uncertainties in jaw positioning of ± 1 mm are addressed, which implies extremes in reality of 2 mm field gap/overlap when planning adjacent fields without overlap and 1 mm gap or 3 mm overlap for a planning protocol with 1 mm overlap. Dosimetric parameters for PTV, lung and body are analyzed. Treatment planning protocol with 1 mm overlap of the adjacent fields does not considerably counteract possible underdosage of the target in the case studied. PTV-V95% is for example reduced from 95% for perfectly aligned fields to 90% and 91% for 2 mm and 1 mm gap, respectively. However, the risk of overdosage in PTV and in healthy soft tissue is increased when following the protocol with 1 mm overlap. A 3 mm overlap compared to 2 mm overlap results in an increase in maximum dose to PTV, PTV-D2%, from 113% to 121%. V120% for 'Body-PTV' is also increased from 5 cm3 to 14 cm3. A treatment planning protocol with 1 mm overlap does not considerably improve the coverage of PTV in the case of erroneous jaw positions causing gap between fields, but increases the overdosage in PTV and doses to healthy tissue, in the case of overlapping fields, for the case investigated.
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| 12. |
- Hernandez, Victor, et al.
(author)
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What is plan quality in radiotherapy? The importance of evaluating dose metrics, complexity, and robustness of treatment plans.
- 2020
-
In: Radiotherapy and oncology : journal of the European Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology. - : Elsevier BV. - 1879-0887. ; 153, s. 26-33
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Plan evaluation is a key step in the radiotherapy treatment workflow. Central to this step is the assessment of treatment plan quality. Hence, it is important to agree on what we mean by plan quality and to be fully aware of which parameters it depends on. We understand plan quality in radiotherapy as the clinical suitability of the delivered dose distribution that can be realistically expected from a treatment plan. Plan quality is commonly assessed by evaluating the dose distribution calculated by the treatment planning system (TPS). Evaluating the 3D dose distribution is not easy, however; it is hard to fully evaluate its spatial characteristics and we still lack the knowledge for personalising the prediction of the clinical outcome based on individual patient characteristics. This advocates for standardisation and systematic collection of clinical data and outcomes after radiotherapy. Additionally, the calculated dose distribution is not exactly the dose delivered to the patient due to uncertainties in the dose calculation and the treatment delivery, including variations in the patient set-up and anatomy. Consequently, plan quality also depends on the robustness and complexity of the treatment plan. We believe that future work and consensus on the best metrics for quality indices are required. Better tools are needed in TPSs for the evaluation of dose distributions, for the robust evaluation and optimisation of treatment plans, and for controlling and reporting plan complexity. Implementation of such tools and a better understanding of these concepts will facilitate the handling of these characteristics in clinical practice and be helpful to increase the overall quality of treatment plans in radiotherapy.
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| 13. |
- Kaplan, L. P., et al.
(author)
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Plan quality assessment in clinical practice: Results of the 2020 ESTRO survey on plan complexity and robustness
- 2022
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In: Radiotherapy and Oncology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-8140. ; 173, s. 254-261
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Purpose: Plan complexity and robustness are two essential aspects of treatment plan quality but there is a great variability in their management in clinical practice. This study reports the results of the 2020 ESTRO survey on plan complexity and robustness to identify needs and guide future discussions and con-sensus.Methods: A survey was distributed online to ESTRO members. Plan complexity was defined as the mod-ulation of machine parameters and increased uncertainty in dose calculation and delivery. Robustness was defined as a dose distribution's sensitivity towards errors stemming from treatment uncertainties, patient setup, or anatomical changes.Results: A total of 126 radiotherapy centres from 33 countries participated, 95 of them (75%) from Europe and Central Asia. The majority controlled and evaluated plan complexity using monitor units (56 centres) and aperture shapes (38 centres). To control robustness, 98 (97% of question responses) photon and 5 (50%) proton centres used PTV margins for plan optimization while 75 (94%) and 5 (50%), respectively, used margins for plan evaluation. Seventeen (21%) photon and 8 (80%) proton centres used robust opti-misation, while 10 (13%) and 8 (80%), respectively, used robust evaluation. Primary uncertainties consid-ered were patient setup (photons and protons) and range calculation uncertainties (protons). Participants expressed the need for improved commercial tools to control and evaluate plan complexity and robust-ness.Conclusion: Clinical implementation of methods to control and evaluate plan complexity and robustness is very heterogeneous. Better tools are needed to manage complexity and robustness in treatment plan-ning systems. International guidelines may promote harmonization.(c) 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. Radiotherapy and Oncology 173 (2022) 254-261 This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
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| 14. |
- Mövik, Louise, 1993, et al.
(author)
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Impact of delineation errors on the estimated organ at risk dose and of dose errors on the normal tissue complication probability model
- 2023
-
In: Medical Physics. - : Wiley. - 0094-2405 .- 2473-4209. ; 50:3, s. 1879-1892
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) models are often based on doses retrieved from delineated volumes. For retrospective dose-response studies focusing on organs that have not been delineated historically, automatic segmentation might be considered. However, automatic segmentation risks generating considerable delineation errors and knowledge regarding how these errors impact the estimated organ dose is important. Furthermore, organ-at-risk (OAR) dose uncertainties cannot be eliminated and might affect the resulting NTCP model. Therefore, it is also of interest to study how OAR dose errors impact the NTCP modeling results. Purpose: To investigate how random delineation errors of the proximal bronchial tree, heart, and esophagus impact the estimated OAR dose, and to investigate how random errors in the doses used for dose-response modeling affect the estimated NTCPs. Methods: We investigated the impact of random delineation errors on the estimated OAR dose using the treatment plans of 39 patients treated with conventionally fractionated radiation therapy of non-small-cell lung cancer. Study-specific reference structures were defined by manually contouring the proximal bronchial tree, heart and esophagus. For each patient and organ, 120 reshaped structures were created by introducing random shifts and margins to the entire reference structure. The mean and near-maximum dose to the reference and reshaped structures were compared. In a separate investigation, the impact of random dose errors on the NTCP model was studied performing dose-response modeling with study sets containing treatment outcomes and OAR doses with and without introduced errors. Universal patient populations with defined population risks, dose-response relationships and distributions of OAR doses were used as ground truth. From such a universal population, we randomly sampled data sets consisting of OAR dose and treatment outcome into reference populations. Study sets of different sizes were created by repeatedly introducing errors to the OAR doses of each reference population. The NTCP models generated with dose errors were compared to the reference NTCP model of the corresponding reference population. Results: A total of 14 040 reshaped structures with random delineation errors were created. The delineation errors resulted in systematic mean dose errors of less than 1% of the prescribed dose (PD). Mean dose differences above 15% of PD and near-maximum doses differences above 25% of PD were observed for 211 and 457 reshaped structures, respectively. Introducing random errors to OAR doses used for dose-response modeling resulted in systematic underestimations of the median NTCP. For all investigated scenarios, the median differences in NTCP were within 0.1 percentage points (p.p.) when comparing different study sizes. Conclusions: Introducing random delineation errors to the proximal bronchial tree, heart and esophagus resulted in mean dose and near-maximum dose differences above 15% and 25% of PD, respectively. We did not observe an association between the dose level and the magnitude of the dose errors. For the scenarios investigated in this study, introducing random errors to OAR doses used for dose-response modeling resulted in systematic underestimations of the median NTCP for reference risks higher than the universal population risk. The median NTCP underestimation was similar for different study sizes, all within 0.1 p.p.
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| 15. |
- Pettersson, Erik, 1987, et al.
(author)
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COMPARISON OF METAL ARTEFACTS FOR DIFFERENT DUAL ENERGY CT TECHNIQUES
- 2021
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In: Radiation Protection Dosimetry. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0144-8420 .- 1742-3406. ; 195:3-4, s. 232-245
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This study compares dual-energy computed tomography (DECT) images of a phantom including different material inserts and with additional lateral titanium or stainless steel inserts, simulating bilateral hip prostheses. Dual-source (DS) and fast kV-switching (FKS) DECT with/without metal artefact reduction (MAR) were compared with regards to virtually monoenergetic CT number accuracy and the depiction of different materials. Streak artefacts were observed between the metal inserts that were more severe with steel compared to titanium inserts. The artefact severity and CT number accuracy depended on the photon energy (keV) for both DECT techniques. While MAR generally increased the CT number accuracy and material depiction within the streak artefacts, it sometimes decreased the accuracy outside the streak artefacts for both DS and FKS. FKS depicted the metal inserts more accurately than DS with regards to both CT numbers and external diameter.
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| 16. |
- Pettersson, Erik, 1987, et al.
(author)
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Prediction of proton stopping power ratios using dual-energy CT basis material decomposition
- 2024
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In: Medical Physics. - 0094-2405 .- 2473-4209. ; 51:2, s. 881-897
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Proton radiotherapy treatment plans are currently restricted by the range uncertainties originating from the stopping power ratio (SPR) prediction based on single-energy computed tomography (SECT). Various studies have shown that multi-energy CT (MECT) can reduce the range uncertainties due to medical implant materials and age-related variations in tissue composition. None of these has directly applied the basis material density (MD) images produced by projection-based MECT systems for SPR prediction. Purpose: To present and evaluate a novel proton SPR prediction method based on MD images from dual-energy CT (DECT), which could reduce the range uncertainties currently associated with proton radiotherapy. Methods: A theoretical basis material decomposition into water and iodine material densities was performed for various pediatric and adult human reference tissues, as well as other non-tissue materials, by minimizing the root-mean-square relative attenuation error in the energy interval from 40 to 140keV. A model (here called MD-SPR) mapping predicted MDs to theoretically calculated reference SPRs was created with locally weighted scatterplot smoothing (LOWESS) data-fitting. The goodness of fit of the MD-SPR model was evaluated for the included reference tissues. MD images of two electron density phantoms, combined to form a head- and an abdomen-sized phantom setup, were acquired with a clinical projection-based fast-kV switching DECT scanner. The MD images were compared to the theoretically predicted MDs of the tissue surrogates and other non-tissue materials in the phantoms, as well as used for input to the MD-SPR model for generation of SPR images. The SPR images were subsequently compared to theoretical reference SPRs of the materials in the phantoms, as well as to SPR images from a commercial algorithm (DirectSPR, Siemens Healthineers, Forchheim, Germany) using image-based consecutive scan DECT for the same phantom setups. Results: The predicted SPRs of the tissue surrogates were similar for MD-SPR and DirectSPR, where the adipose and bone tissue surrogates were within 1% difference to the reference SPRs, while other non-adipose soft tissue surrogates (breast, brain, liver, muscle) were all underestimated by between −0.7% and −1.8%. The SPRs of the non-tissue materials (polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), polyether ether ketone (PEEK), graphite and Teflon) were within 2.8% for MD-SPR images, compared to 6.8% for DirectSPR. Conclusions: The MD-SPR model performed similar compared to other published methods for the human reference tissues. The SPR prediction for tissue surrogates was similar to DirectSPR and showed potential to improve SPR prediction for non-tissue materials.
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| 17. |
- Pettersson, Erik, 1987, et al.
(author)
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Structure delineation in the presence of metal - A comparative phantom study using single and dual-energy computed tomography with and without metal artefact reduction
- 2019
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In: Physics and Imaging in Radiation Oncology. - : Elsevier BV. - 2405-6316. ; 9, s. 43-49
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background and purpose: Metal artefacts in computed tomography (CT) images impairs structure delineation. These artefacts can potentially be reduced with dual-energy CT (DECT) with or without using metal artefact reduction (MAR). The purpose was to investigate how structure delineation in DECT with or without MAR and single-energy CT (SECT) images were affected by metals. Materials and methods: A phantom with known irregular structures was developed. References tructures were determined from a low-noise scan without metal. Bilateral hip prostheses were simulated with steel or titanium inserts. The phantom was scanned with SECT and fast-kV switching DECT with optional MAR. Four radiation oncologists delineated the structures in two phantom set-ups. Delineated structures were evaluated with Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) and Hausdorff distance relative to the reference structures. Results: With titanium inserts, more structures were detected for non-MAR DECT compared to SECT while the same or less were detected with steel inserts. MAR improved delineation in DECT images. For steel inserts, Three structures in the region of artefacts, were delineated by at least two oncologists with MAR-DECT compared to none with non-MAR DECT or SECT. The highest values of DSC for MAR-DECT were 0.69, 0.81 and 0.77 for those structures. Conclusions: Delineation was improved with non-MAR DECT compared to SECT, especially for titanium inserts. A larger improvement was seen with the use of MAR for both steel and titanium inserts. The improvement was dependent on the location of the structure relative to the inserts, and the structure contrast relative to the background.
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| 18. |
- Sarudis, Sebastian, 1981, et al.
(author)
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Evaluation of deformable image registration accuracy for CT images of the thorax region
- 2019
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In: Physica Medica-European Journal of Medical Physics. - : Elsevier BV. - 1120-1797. ; 57, s. 191-199
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Purpose: Evaluate the performance of three commercial deformable image registration (DIR) solutions on computed tomography (CT) image-series of the thorax. Methods: DIRs were performed on CT image-series of a thorax phantom with tumor inserts and on six 4-dimensional patient CT image-series of the thorax. The center of mass shift (CMS), dice similarity coefficient (DSC) and dose-volume-histogram (DVH) parameters were used to evaluate the accuracy. Dose calculations on deformed patient images were compared to calculations on un-deformed images for the gross tumor volume (GTV) (D-mean, D-98%), lung (V-20Gy,V-12Gy), heart and spinal cord (D-2%). Results: Phantom structures with constant volume and shifts <= 30 mm were reproduced with visually acceptable accuracy (DSC >= 0.91, CMS <= 0.9 mm) for all software solutions. Deformations including volume changes were less accurate with 9/12 DIRs considered visually unacceptable. In patients, organs were reproduced with DSC >= 0.83. GTV shifts <= 1.6 cm were reproduced with visually acceptable accuracy by all software while larger shifts resulted in failures for at least one of the software. In total, the best software succeeded in 18/25 DIRs while the worst succeeded in 12/25 DIRs. Visually acceptable DIRs resulted in deviations <= 3.0% of the prescribed dose and <= 3.6% of the total structure volume in the evaluated DVH-parameters. Conclusions: The take home message from the results of this study is the importance to have a visually acceptable registration. DSC and CMS are not predictive of the associated dose deviation. Visually acceptable DIRs implied dose deviations <= 3.0%.
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| 19. |
- Stervik, Louise, 1993, et al.
(author)
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Analysis of early respiratory-related mortality after radiation therapy of non-small-cell lung cancer : feasibility of automatic data extraction for dose–response studies
- 2020
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In: Acta Oncologica. - 0284-186X. ; 59:6, s. 628-635
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Purpose: To examine the feasibility of automatic data extraction from clinical radiation therapy (RT) databases at four hospitals to investigate the impact of mean lung dose (MLD) and age on the risk of early respiratory-related death and early overall death for patients treated with RT for non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Material and methods: We included adult patients with NSCLC receiving curatively intended RT between 2002 and 2017 at four hospitals. A script was developed to automatically extract RT-related data. The cause of death for patients deceased within 180 days of the start of RT was retrospectively assessed. Using logistic regression, the risks of respiratory-related death and of overall death within 90 and 180 days were investigated using MLD and age as variables. Results: Altogether, 1785 patients were included in the analysis of early overall mortality and 1655 of early respiratory-related mortality. The respiratory-related mortalities within 90 and 180 days were 0.9% (15/1655) and 3.6% (60/1655). The overall mortalities within 90 and 180 days were 2.5% (45/1785) and 10.6% (190/1785). Higher MLD and older age were associated with an increased risk of respiratory-related death within 180 days and overall death within 90 and 180 days (all p<.05). For example, the risk of respiratory-related death within 180 days and their 95% confidence interval for patients aged 65 and 75 years with MLDs of 20 Gy was according to our logistic model 3.8% (2.6–5.0%) and 7.7% (5.5–10%), respectively. Conclusions: Automatic data extraction was successfully used to pool data from four hospitals. MLD and age were associated with the risk of respiratory-related death within 180 days of the start of RT and with overall death within 90 and 180 days. A model quantifying the risk of respiratory-related death within 180 days was formulated.
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| 20. |
- Stervik, Louise, 1993, et al.
(author)
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Modelling the risk of fatal acute toxicity following radiotherapy of lung cancer
- 2018
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In: Physica medica. Vol. 52, Suppl. 1, p. 30. 2nd European Congress of Medical Physics. - : Elsevier BV. - 1120-1797 .- 1724-191X.
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Purpose:To model the risk of fatal acute toxicity after conventionally fractionated curative radiotherapy of patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods:Scripting was used to automatically extract treatment-related data for all patients treated for NSCLC between 2008 and 2016 from three hospitals. Inclusion criteria were conventionally fractionated curative radiotherapy and no prior treatment in the thorax region. Maximum likelihood estimation and logistic regression (LR) were used to model the risk of fatal acute toxicity defined as death within 90 days from treatment start. Mean lung dose (MLD), patient age and the volume of the gross tumour volume (GTV) were investigated as predictors in a univariable LR analysis. We performed analysis on the data from the three hospitals separately and merged. Predictor variables were considered statistically significant if p < 0.05. All predictor variables with a p < 0.1 were further analysed in multivariable LR models. Confidence intervals (CIs) for the predictors were calculated using the likelihood ratio test. CIs for the multivariable models were calculated by bootstrapping. Results:Data was extracted for 848 patients. The incidence of death within 90 days from treatment start was 3.8% (32/848) for the merged data set and varied from 1.8% to 5.4% between hospitals. For the hospital with the highest incidence, a statistically significant relationship between MLD and the risk of fatal acute toxicity (p = 0.020) was found. The model parameters and their 95% CIs were D50=42.8 (31.4-167.7) Gy and γ50=1.20 (0.77-1.68). In the univariable LRs with patient age and GTV volume, patient age had p-values < 0.1 and GTV volume p-values > 0.2. Multivariable LR with MLD and patient age resulted in a statistically significant multivariable model (p = 0.005) for the merged data. The calculated risks and their 95% CIs for a patient with MLD = 20 Gy were 1.6% (0.5-3.3%), 2.8% (1.3-4.5%), 4.9% (3.1-6.8%), and 8.6% (4.8-13.5%) at 50, 60, 70, and 80 years of age, respectively. Conclusions:A statistically significant multivariable model quantifying the risk of fatal acute toxicity with MLD and patient age as predictor variables was found.
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| 21. |
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| 22. |
- Stock, M., et al.
(author)
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Harmonization of proton treatment planning for head and neck cancer using pencil beam scanning: first report of the IPACS collaboration group
- 2019
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In: Acta Oncologica. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0284-186X .- 1651-226X. ; 58:12, s. 1720-1730
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background and purpose: A collaborative network between proton therapy (PT) centres in Trento in Italy, Poland, Austria, Czech Republic and Sweden (IPACS) was founded to implement trials and harmonize PT. This is the first report of IPACS with the aim to show the level of harmonization that can be achieved for proton therapy planning of head and neck (sino-nasal) cancer. Methods: CT-data sets of five patients were included. During several face-to-face and online meetings, a common treatment planning protocol was developed. Each centre used its own treatment planning system (TPS) and planning approach with some restrictions specified in the treatment planning protocol. In addition, volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) photon plans were created. Results: For CTV1, the average D-median was 59.3 +/- 2.4 Gy(RBE) for protons and 58.8 +/- 2.0 Gy(RBE) for VMAT (aim was 56 Gy(RBE)). For CTV2, the average D-median was 71.2 +/- 1.0 Gy(RBE) for protons and 70.6 +/- 0.4 Gy(RBE) for VMAT (aim was 70 Gy(RBE)). The average D-2% for the spinal cord was 25.1 +/- 8.5 Gy(RBE) for protons and 47.6 +/- 1.4 Gy(RBE) for VMAT. The average D-2% for chiasm was 46.5 +/- 4.4 Gy(RBE) for protons and 50.8 +/- 1.4 Gy(RBE) for VMAT, respectively. Robust evaluation was performed and showed the least robust plans for plans with a low number of beams. Discussion: In conclusion, several influences on harmonization were identified: adherence/interpretation to/of the protocol, available technology, experience in treatment planning and use of different beam arrangements. In future, all OARs that should be included in the optimization need to be specified in order to further harmonize treatment planning.
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| 23. |
- Terzidis, Emmanouil, 1994, et al.
(author)
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Different aspects of plan complexity in prostate VMAT plans
- 2023
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In: Journal of Physics: Conference Series. - : IOP Publishing. - 1742-6596.
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In this work we evaluated VMAT plan complexity by using different methods and approaches: complexity related to the aperture shape, the nature of the dynamic delivery, the impact of delivery variations as well as complexity analyses based on measurements. Prostate cancer treatment plans with different levels of complexity were created for three different patient cases. The plans intended to be most complex were also scored to be the most complex according to the evaluation methods used. The results for the other plans were more diverse. The methods that included 3D spatial information on complexity gave additional information important for the analysis of clinical relevance. In order to use specific complexity estimation methods for taking clinical decisions it is essential to understand how different aspects of complexity are incorporated in each method.
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| 24. |
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| 25. |
- Thurin, Erik, et al.
(author)
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Proton therapy for low-grade gliomas in adults : A systematic review
- 2018
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In: Clinical neurology and neurosurgery (Dutch-Flemish ed. Print). - : Elsevier BV. - 0303-8467 .- 1872-6968. ; 174, s. 233-238
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- For adult patients with diffuse low-grade glioma (LGG) proton therapy is an emerging radiotherapy modality. The number of proton facilities is rapidly increasing. However, there is a shortage of published data concerning the clinical effectiveness compared to photon radiotherapy and potential proton-specific toxicity. This study aimed to systematically review and summarize the relevant literature on proton therapy for adult LGG patients, including dosimetric comparisons, the type and frequency of acute and long-term toxicity and the clinical effectiveness. A systematic search was performed in several medical databases and 601 articles were screened for relevance. Nine articles were deemed eligible for in-depth analysis using a standardized data collection form by two independent researchers. Proton treatment plans compared favorably to photon-plans regarding dose to uninvolved neural tissue. Fatigue (27-100%), alopecia (37-85%), local erythema (78-85%) and headache (27-75%) were among the most common acute toxicities. One study reported no significant long-term cognitive impairments. Limited data was available on long-term survival. One study reported a 5-year overall survival of 84% and 5-year progression-free survival of 40%. We conclude that published data from clinical studies using proton therapy for adults with LGG are scarce. As the technique becomes more available, controlled clinical studies are urgently warranted to determine if the potential benefits based on comparative treatment planning translate into clinical benefits.
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