Patient specific evaluation of breathing motion induced interplay effects.

PURPOSE: In lung SABR, interplay between target motion and dynamically changing beam parameters can affect the target coverage. To identify the potential need for motion-management techniques, a comprehensive methodology for pre-treatment estimation of interplay effects has been implemented. METHODS: In conjunction with an alpha-version of VeriSoft and OCTAVIUS 4D (PTW-Freiburg, Germany), a method is presented to calculate a virtual, motion-simulated 3D dose distribution based on measurement data acquired in a stationary phantom and a subsequent correction with time-dependent target-motion patterns. In-house software has been developed to create user-defined motion patterns based on either simplistic or real patient-breathing patterns including the definition of the exact beam starting phase. The approach was validated by programmed couch and phantom motion during beam delivery. Five different breathing traces with extremely altered beam-on phases (0 % and 50 % respiratory phase) and a superior-inferior motion altitude of 25 mm were used to probe the influence of interplay effects for 14 lung SABR plans. Gamma analysis (2 %/2mm) was used for quantification. RESULTS: Validation measurements resulted in >98 % pass rates. Regarding the interplay effect evaluation, gamma pass rates of <92 % were observed for sinusoidal breathing patterns with <25 number of breaths per delivery time (NBs) and realistic patterns with <18 NBs. CONCLUSION: The potential influence of interplay effects on the target coverage is highly dependent on the patient's breathing behaviour. The presented moving-platform-free approach can be used for verification of ITV-based treatment plans to identify whether the clinical goals are achievable without explicit use of a respiratory management technique.

3D-printed patient-specific pelvis phantom for dosimetry measurements for prostate stereotactic radiotherapy with dominant intraprostatic lesion boost.

AIM: Developing and assessing the feasibility of using a three-dimensional (3D) printed patient-specific anthropomorphic pelvis phantom for dose calculation and verification for stereotactic ablative radiation therapy (SABR) with dose escalation to the dominant intraprostatic lesions. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A 3D-printed pelvis phantom, including bone-mimicking material, was fabricated based on the computed tomography (CT) images of a prostate cancer patient. To compare the extent to which patient and phantom body and bones overlapped, the similarity Dice coefficient was calculated. Modular cylindrical inserts were created to encapsulate radiochromic films and ionization chamber for absolute dosimetry measurements at the location of prostate and at the boost region. Gamma analysis evaluation with 2%/2mm criteria was performed to compare treatment planning system calculations and measured dose when delivering a 10 flattening filter free (FFF) SABR plan and a 10FFF boost SABR plan. RESULTS: Dice coefficients of 0.98 and 0.91 were measured for body and bones, respectively, demonstrating agreement between patient and phantom outlines. For the boost plans the gamma analysis yielded 97.0% of pixels passing 2%/2mm criteria and these results were supported by the chamber average dose difference of 0.47 ± 0.03%. These results were further improved when overriding the bone relative electron density: 97.3% for the 2%/2mm gamma analysis, and 0.05 ± 0.03% for the ionization chamber average dose difference. CONCLUSIONS: The modular patient-specific 3D-printed pelvis phantom has proven to be a highly attractive and versatile tool to validate prostate SABR boost plans using multiple detectors.

Verification of high-dose-rate brachytherapy treatment planning dose distribution using liquid-filled ionization chamber array.

PURPOSE: This study aims to investigate the dosimetric performance of a liquid-filled ionization chamber array in high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy dosimetry. A comparative study was carried out with air-filled ionization chamber array and EBT3 Gafchromic films to demonstrate its suitability in brachytherapy. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The PTW OCTAVIUS detector 1000 SRS (IA 2.5-5 mm) is a liquid-filled ionization chamber array of area 11 x 11 cm2 and chamber spacing of 2.5-5 mm, whereas the PTW OCTAVIUS detector 729 (IA 10 mm) is an air vented ionization chamber array of area 27 x 27 cm2 and chamber spacing of 10 mm. EBT3 films were exposed to doses up to a maximum of 6 Gy and evaluated using multi-channel analysis. The detectors were evaluated using test plans to mimic a HDR intracavitary gynecological treatment. The plan was calculated and delivered with the applicator plane placed 20 mm from the detector plane. The acquired measurements were compared to the treatment plan. In addition to point dose measurement, profile/isodose, gamma analysis, and uncertainty analysis were performed. Detector sensitivity was evaluated by introducing simulated errors to the test plans. RESULTS: The mean point dose differences between measured and calculated plans were 0.2% ± 1.6%, 1.8% ± 1.0%, and 1.5% ± 0.81% for film, IA 10 mm, and IA 2.5-5 mm, respectively. The average percentage of passed gamma (global/local) values using 3%/3 mm criteria was above 99.8% for all three detectors on the original plan. For IA 2.5-5 mm, local gamma criteria of 2%/1 mm with a passing rate of at least 95% was found to be sensitive when simulated positional errors of 1 mm was introduced. CONCLUSION: The dosimetric properties of IA 2.5-5 mm showed the applicability of liquid-filled ionization chamber array as a potential QA device for HDR brachytherapy treatment planning systems.

Improvement of off-axis SABR plan verification results by using adapted dose reconstruction algorithms for the Octavius 4D system.

PURPOSE: Stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy (SABR) for lung patients can be performed with volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) plans using off-axis target geometry to allow treatment in their CBCT verified position. For patient-specific quality assurance measurements using the PTW Octavius 4D phantom (PTW, Freiburg, Germany) (OCT4D) in conjunction with an Octavius 1000SRS array (OCT1000) (PTW, Freiburg, Germany), repositioning the phantom off-axis is required to ensure the measurement area coincides with the tumor. The aim of this work is to quantify delivery errors using an array repositioned off-axis and evaluate new software which incorporates corrections for off-axis phantom measurements. METHODS: Dynamic conformal arcs and 25 lung SABR plans were created with the isocenter at the patient midline and the target volume off-axis. Measurements were acquired with an OCT4D phantom in conjunction with a 729 array (PTW, Freiburg, Germany) (OCT729) placed at isocenter. These plans were recalculated and delivered to both the OCT729 and OCT1000 arrays repositioned so that the high-dose region was at the center of the phantom. Comparisons were made using VeriSoft v7.0 (PTW, Freiburg, Germany) and the newly implemented version 7.1 with 2%/2 mm gamma criterion (10% threshold) and results correlated with off-axis distance to the tumor. RESULTS: Average pass rates for VeriSoft v7.0 significantly reduced from 92.7 ± 2.4% to 84.9 ± 4.1% when the phantom was repositioned compared to the isocenter setup for the OCT729. The gamma pass rates significantly decreased the further the phantom was moved off-axis. Significantly higher pass rates were observed for the OCT1000 of 95.7 ± 3.6% and a significant decrease in gamma pass rate with off-axis phantom distance was again observed. In contrast, even with phantom repositioning, the pass rates for analysis with VeriSoft v7.1 were 93.7 ± 2.1% and 99.4 ± 1.1% for OCT729 and OCT1000, respectively. No significant difference in gamma pass rate was observed with off-axis phantom position irrespective of array type with the new software. CONCLUSION: The errors in QA phantom measurements due to dose reconstruction at off-axis target geometry have been demonstrated for conformal arcs and clinical VMAT SABR plans. A novel software solution implemented by the vendor to allow accurate pass rates has been tested. This solution enables high-resolution arrays with small active detection areas to be used for quality assurance of SABR treatment plans in the off-axis treatment position.

Class solutions for SABR-VMAT for high-risk prostate cancer with and without elective nodal irradiation.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study is to find the optimal planning settings for prostate SABR-VMAT for high-risk prostate cancer patients irradiated to prostate only (PO) or prostate and pelvic lymph nodes (PPLN). METHODS: For 10 patients, plans using 6MV flattened, flattening-filter-free (FFF) 6MV (6 F) and FFF 10MV (10 F) photon beams with full and partial arc arrangements were generated and compared. The prescribed dose was 40Gy to the prostate with 25Gy to the PLN in 5 fractions. Plans were then evaluated for PTV coverage, dose fall-off, and OAR doses. The number of monitor units and the treatment delivery times were also compared. Statistical differences were evaluated using a paired sample Wilcoxon signed rank test with a significance level of 0.05%. RESULTS: A total of 150 plans were generated for this study. Acceptable PO plans were obtained using single arcs, while two arcs were necessary for PPLN. All plans were highly conformal (CI ≥1.3 and CN ≥0.90) with no significant differences in the PTV dose coverage. 6MV plans required significantly longer treatment time and had higher dose spillage compared to FFF plans. Superior plans were obtained using 10 F 300° partial arcs for PO with the lowest rectal dose, dose spillage and the shortest treatment times. For PPLN, 6 F and 10 F plans were equivalent. CONCLUSIONS: SABR-VMAT with FFF photon beams offers a clear benefit with respect to shorter treatment delivery times and reduced dose spillage. Class solutions using a single 10 F 300° arc for PO and two 10 F or 6 F partial 300° arcs for PPLN are proposed.

Comparison between In-house developed and Diamond commercial software for patient specific independent monitor unit calculation and verification with heterogeneity corrections.

The study was aimed to compare two different monitor unit (MU) or dose verification software in volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) using modified Clarkson's integration technique for 6 MV photons beams. In-house Excel Spreadsheet based monitor unit verification calculation (MUVC) program and PTW's DIAMOND secondary check software (SCS), version-6 were used as a secondary check to verify the monitor unit (MU) or dose calculated by treatment planning system (TPS). In this study 180 patients were grouped into 61 head and neck, 39 thorax and 80 pelvic sites. Verification plans are created using PTW OCTAVIUS-4D phantom and also measured using 729 detector chamber and array with isocentre as the suitable point of measurement for each field. In the analysis of 154 clinically approved VMAT plans with isocentre at a region above -350 HU, using heterogeneity corrections, In-house Spreadsheet based MUVC program and Diamond SCS showed good agreement TPS. The overall percentage average deviations for all sites were (-0.93% + 1.59%) and (1.37% + 2.72%) for In-house Excel Spreadsheet based MUVC program and Diamond SCS respectively. For 26 clinically approved VMAT plans with isocentre at a region below -350 HU showed higher variations for both In-house Spreadsheet based MUVC program and Diamond SCS. It can be concluded that for patient specific quality assurance (QA), the In-house Excel Spreadsheet based MUVC program and Diamond SCS can be used as a simple and fast accompanying to measurement based verification for plans with isocentre at a region above -350 HU.

A study on the correlation between plan complexity and gamma index analysis in patient specific quality assurance of volumetric modulated arc therapy.

AIM: To evaluate the new Octavius 4D system for patient specific quality assurance and to study the correlation between plan complexity and gamma index analysis in patient specific quality assurance of VMAT using the Octavius 4D system. BACKGROUND: McNiven (2010) proposed a study to evaluate the utility of a complexity metric, the Modulation Complexity Score, to evaluate the relationship of the metric with deliverability in IMRT. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Evaluation of the Octavius 4D system was carried out by gamma evaluation of user defined MLC created patterns and AAPM TG 119 benchmark plans. The relationship between plan complexity expressed as Modulation Complexity Score (MCS) and the gamma index analysis was established by a planar and volumetric gamma analysis of 106 clinically approved VMAT patient plans of different sites. RESULTS: Average volumetric 3D global gamma evaluation (3 mm/3%) results for the evaluation plans was 97.41% for 6 MV X-rays and 98.30% for 15 MV X-rays. Average MCS values for the head and neck, pelvic and thoracic plans were 0.2224, 0.3615 and 0.1874. Average volumetric 3D global gamma analysis (3 mm/3%) results for the head and neck, pelvic and thoracic VMAT plans were 95.45%, 97.51% and 96.98%, respectively. Out of 90 correlation analyses between the MCS and gamma passing rate, only 3 had the r value greater than 0.5. CONCLUSIONS: The Octavius 4D system is a suitable device for patient specific pretreatment QA. Global and local gamma analysis results showed a weak correlation with the MCS.

A study on correlation between 2D and 3D gamma evaluation metrics in patient-specific quality assurance for VMAT.

In this study, we investigated the correlation between 2-dimensional (2D) and 3D gamma analysis using the new PTW OCTAVIUS 4D system for various parameters. For this study, we selected 150 clinically approved volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) plans of head and neck (50), thoracic (esophagus) (50), and pelvic (cervix) (50) sites. Individual verification plans were created and delivered to the OCTAVIUS 4D phantom. Measured and calculated dose distributions were compared using the 2D and 3D gamma analysis by global (maximum), local and selected (isocenter) dose methods. The average gamma passing rate for 2D global gamma analysis in coronal and sagittal plane was 94.81% ± 2.12% and 95.19% ± 1.76%, respectively, for commonly used 3-mm/3% criteria with 10% low-dose threshold. Correspondingly, for the same criteria, the average gamma passing rate for 3D planar global gamma analysis was 95.90% ± 1.57% and 95.61% ± 1.65%. The volumetric 3D gamma passing rate for 3-mm/3% (10% low-dose threshold) global gamma was 96.49% ± 1.49%. Applying stringent gamma criteria resulted in higher differences between 2D planar and 3D planar gamma analysis across all the global, local, and selected dose gamma evaluation methods. The average gamma passing rate for volumetric 3D gamma analysis was 1.49%, 1.36%, and 2.16% higher when compared with 2D planar analyses (coronal and sagittal combined average) for 3mm/3% global, local, and selected dose gamma analysis, respectively. On the basis of the wide range of analysis and correlation study, we conclude that there is no assured correlation or notable pattern that could provide relation between planar 2D and volumetric 3D gamma analysis. Owing to higher passing rates, higher action limits can be set while performing 3D quality assurance. Site-wise action limits may be considered for patient-specific QA in VMAT.

In-house spread sheet based monitor unit verification program for volumetric modulated arc therapy.

Independent monitor unit verification calculation (MUVC) has been recommended by several authors for intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) as a patient specific quality assurance tool. Aim of the present work is to develop an in-house excel spread sheet based MUVC program for volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) using Clarkson's integration technique. Total scatter factor (S(c,p)) and tissue maximum ratio (TMR) for circular fields obtained from Treatment planning system (TPS) were used for the calculation. Multileaf collimator (MLC) interleaf leakage, MLC round edge transmission and tongue and groove effect were accounted. MUVC calculation was performed for 58 patients both for patient anatomy and for homogenous cylindrical phantom. Radiological path lengths were used as water equivalent depths (WED) for calculations using patient anatomy. Monitor unit (MU) discrepancies between -2.60% and 0.28% with mean deviation of -0.92% ± 0.75% were obtained for homogenous cylindrical phantom calculations. MUVC for patient anatomy resulted in large variations between -19.02% and 0.67% for 14 plans where isocenter was at a region below -350 HU. But For 44 plans where the isocenter was at a region above -350 HU, variations between -3.44% and 0.48% were obtained with mean deviation of -1.73% ± 1.12%. For VMAT patient specific quality assurance, the independent MUVC algorithm can be used as an easy and quick auxiliary to measurement based verification for plans with isocenter at a region above -350 HU.

A study on dosimetric properties of electronic portal imaging device and its use as a quality assurance tool in Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy.

AIM: In this study, the dosimetric properties of the electronic portal imaging device were examined and the quality assurance testing of Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy was performed. BACKGROUND: RapidArc involves the variable dose rate, leaf speed and the gantry rotation. The imager was studied for the effects like dose, dose rate, field size, leaf speed and sag during gantry rotation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A Varian RapidArc machine equipped with 120 multileaf collimator and amorphous silicon detector was used for the study. The characteristics that are variable in RapidArc treatment were studied for the portal imager. The accuracy of a dynamic multileaf collimator position at different gantry angles and during gantry rotation was examined using the picket fence test. The control of the dose rate and gantry speed was verified using a test field irradiating seven strips of the same dose with different dose rate and gantry speeds. The control over leaf speed during arc was verified by irradiating four strips of different leaf speeds with the same dose in each strip. To verify the results, the RapidArc test procedure was compared with the X-Omat film and verified for a period of 6 weeks using EPID. RESULTS: The effect of gantry rotation on leaf accuracy was minimal. The dose in segments showed good agreement with mean deviation of 0.8% for dose rate control and 1.09% for leaf speed control over different gantry speeds. CONCLUSION: The results provided a precise control of gantry speed, dose rate and leaf speeds during RapidArc delivery and were consistent over 6 weeks.