RESUMO
Objective To develop a beam orientation optimization algorithm for the gantry orientation in three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy(3 DCRT).Methods Patients' data were imported from the Pinnacle v 7.2 treatment planning system.including the DICOMRT and dose distribution files.These imported files were merged using a uniforiB coordinate system.The algorithm determined the optimized beam weight for each beam group and optimized the beam orientation with genetic algorithm.The optimized parameters,including the optimized beam orientations and weights,were exposed back to the Pinnacle v 7.2 to compare with the conventional 3DCRT plan.The optimized algorithm was implemented with our in-house program. The dose distributions, the DVH diagram and the conformity index of two lung cancer patients were compared. Results for the two lung cancer patients,the conformity index of the optimized plan(0.59 and 0.7)was higher than the conwentional 3DCRT plan(0.36 and 0.58).The maximum dose in spinal cord was reduced by 17.8%and 22.4%,the lung V20 reduced by 3.12%and 4.35%,and V30 reduced by 4.47%and 1.49%.For the brain tumor patient. the dose of lens and eyes was also decreased significantly. Conclusion This beam orientation optimization can be used as an assistant planning tool.