ABSTRACT
Objective:To study the effects of gantry acceleration limitations of a linear accelerator (linac) on the dosimetry of volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) plans, machine efficiency, and dose verification result of VMAT plans and to explore the optimal selection of gantry motion models in the Pinnacle treatment planning system.Methods:Ten cases of nasopharyngeal carcinoma, non-small cell lung cancer, sigmoid adenocarcinoma with retroperitoneal lymph node metastasis, and invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast were each selected for this study. Then two models were set up in the Pinnacle v9.10 treatment planning system, namely the one allowing gantry acceleration and the one limiting gantry acceleration. The same field arrangement, optimized target parameters, and optimized weights of VMAT plans were adopted in the two models, in order to analyze the dosimetric variations in targets and organs at risk (OARs) and compare the differences in treatment time and gamma passing rates.Results:The treatment time of the enrolled patients under the model allowing gantry acceleration was significantly lower than that of the patients under the model limiting gantry acceleration was adopted ( t=-6.751, -0.209, -19.523, -28.999; P< 0.05) and decreased by 15.27%, 18.07%, 19.71%, and 28.75%, respectively. Meanwhile, the conformity and uniformity of target areas were affected, while there was no statistical significance in the gamma passing rates in the validation of VMAT plans ( P>0.05). For the cases of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), the maximum dose to brainstem PRV increased by 1.25%. For the cases of lung cancer, the maximum dose to the spinal cord and lung V20 increased by 1.19% and 1.21%, respectively, while lung V5 decreased by 1.21%. For the cases of sigmoid adenocarcinoma with retroperitoneal lymph node metastasis, the mean doses to bilateral kidneys, livers, small intestine, and colon all increased. For the cases of breast cancer, lung V10 on the opposite side of cancer increased by 1.66% and the mean dose to the lungs on the same side of cancer decreased by 7.45%. Conclusions:The model allowing gantry acceleration allows the treatment time to be significantly shortened and the treatment efficiency improved. Although this model had the shortcomings such as affecting the conformity and uniformity of target areas to a certain extent and increasing the doses to some OARs, clinical requirements for dosimetry were still met. Therefore, it is recommended to use the model allowing gantry acceleration in the Pinnacle planning system.
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Objective To perform 3D dose reconstruction based on electronic portal imaging device ( EPID) of linear accelerator for the static intensity-modulated using Edose, a dose verification system, Aiming to assist the radiotherapy professionals to better understand the radiotherapy organs at risk and target dose changes. Methods CBCT image was acquired for patients with head and neck cancer and thoracic cancer once a week for a total of six times. Subsequently,CBCT images and planning CT images were subject to rigid registration and exported to the Edose software. According to the setup error, EPID-based three-dimensional dose reconstruction was performed by using Edose software. The gamma passing rate and dose of different organs at risk ( OARs ) were analyzed and statistically compared. Results For patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma,the intra-fractional Dmax of the spinal cord was more significantly fluctuated and higher compared with the planning dose, whereas the intra-fractional Dmax of the brainstem did not significantly fluctuate. The V30 of the parotid gland significantly changed with a maximum increase of 28. 69％ per fraction. For patients with thoracic tumors,the Dmax of the spinal cord was slightly changed,and the actual doses in the lung and heart were higher than the planning doses. The average deviation of the pulmonary V5 was up to 16. 99％ between the actual and planning doses with statistical significance ( P<0. 05).According to the analysis of gamma passing rate,significant dose changes occurring in the OARs were detected in the 16th fraction for the head and neck cancer and the 24th fraction for the thoracic neoplasms. Conclusions The dose changes in the OARs can be obtained by reconstructing the EPID-based 3D dose distribution using the Edose software for each fraction, which can better protect the OAR, enhance the coverage of target dose and provide certain reference for dose-guided and self-adaptive radiotherapy.
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Objective:To analyze the attenuation of immobilization baseplate of carbon fiber for ray and the change of dose verification results for enhanced radiation field of MatriXX. And to primarily research the influence of this immobilization baseplate for the dose distribution of radiation field of radiotherapy.Methods: 20 patients with cervical cancer were enrolled in the research. The angle of gantry was 180°in the enhanced plan of immobilization field, and the corresponding verification plans were designed. When the verification plan was implemented on the Varian Clinac iX of accelerator, the two-dimensional ionization chamber array (MatriXX) was used to measure dose distributions of the plan. The immobilization baseplate of carbon fiber (ORFIT AIO) was used in the research. The situations of no baseplate (A group), one baseplate (B group), two baseplates (C group)and three baseplates (D group)between the handpiece of accelerator and Matri XX were researched, respectively. The data of the 4 groups were obtained by using software (OminiPro I'mRT), and the largest dose point and passing rate of Gamma in plane of radiation field were counted and analyzed.Results: Compared with A group, the average attenuation factors for ray on the largest dose point of B, C and D group in the plane of radiation field were (1.73±0.11)％, (3.44±0.36)％, and (5.48±0.44)％, respectively. The passing rates of Gamma in the 4 groups were (94.87±2.31)％, (99.18±0.61)％, (99.79±0.27)％ and (96.24±1.99)％, respectively. And the differences of passing rate between each group and A group were statistical significance (t=9.788,t=9.261,t=2.256,P<0.05).Conclusion:The immobilization baseplate of carbon fiber has influence for the attenuation of high-energy X-rays and it can affect the dose distribution of radiation field which has passed baseplate in some degrees. And when physicists calculates the dose, they should consider the effect of immobilization baseplate of carbon fiber for dose distribution of radiation field.
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Objective To evaluate dose variations induced by gravity of multi-leaf collimator to provide references for clinical intensity-modulated radiotherapy.Methods Two-dimensional dose distributions in the central plane of IMRT fields were measured by use of a 2D ion chamber array.All measurements were repeated at two collimator angles (C=0 and 90°),for each of the following gantry angles:G=0 and 270°.Comparisons were made to dose distributions generated at G=0°and their differences were analyzed using gamma index analysis (3％/3 mm and 1％/1 mm).Results Under the radiation field of 10 cm×10 cm,the gamma passing rate was higher than 99％ for 3％ 3 mm anch close to 95％ for 1％/1mm Under a 3％/3mm error standard,the average matching rate for step & shoot fields was (96.46±0.33)％ and for DMLC fields was (94.67±0.54)％ at C=0°;The average matching rate for step & shoot fields was (94.59±0.47)％ and for DMLC fields was (92.60±0.52)％ at C=90°.Under a 1％/1mm error standard,the average matching rate for step & shoot fields was (89.83 ±1.06)％ and for DMLC fields was (85.84±0.57)％ at C=0°;The average matching rate for step & shoot fields was (86.91 ±1.71)％ and for DMLC fields was (83.89±0.69)％ at C=90°.Concusion MLC weight effect affects IMRT delivery dose,and DMLC fields are more sensitive to gravity than step & shoot fields.