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Objective:To investigate the performance of optical surface imaging (OSI) in the postmastectomy radiotherapy setup and to assess the effects of 3D printed silicone bolus on OSI detection precision.Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted for 16 patients treated with left-sided postmastectomy radiotherapy (PMRT) in West China Hopital, Sichuan University from January to April, 2021. The setup errors of 16 patients without bolus detected using OSI (OSI no-bolus, OSI n) were obtained before error correction was conducted using cone-beam CT (CBCT). The correlation between OSI n and CBCT was analyzed, and then the diagnostic efficacy of OSI was assessed using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. The setup errors of six patients with 3D printed silicone bolus detected using OSI (OSI bolus, OSI b) were obtained through off-line image registration, and then the detection precision of OSI n and OSI b in the translational directions was compared. Results:The setup errors in the case of OSI n were highly correlated with CBCT in the translational direction ( r ≥ 0.80), but were weakly correlated in the rotation direction ( r < 0.40). In the ROC analysis, the area under the curve (AUC) in the y direction was the lowest and was in the order of AUC 5 mm ≥AUC 3 mm > 0.75 for any translational direction. The difference in the detection precision between OSI n and OSI b was not statistically significant in the x and z directions ( P > 0.05), but was statistically significant in the y direction ( Z = -2.56, P = 0.01). In the y direction, the systematic error of detection precision in the case of OSI b was 3.11 mm higher than that in the case of OSI n, and the random error of detection precision in the case of OSI b was 1.9 mm higher than that in the case of OSI n. Conclusions:OSI cannot yet substitute CBCT in the postmastectomy radiotherapy setup, but its detection error is still within the clinically acceptable range. The performance of OSI-assisted setup is expected to be further improved by mitigating the interference of factors such as bolus in the imaging path through operational training.
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Objective:To introduce the stereotactic cardiac radioablation (SCRA) based on the stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT), and comprehensively evaluate the new approach by short-term effectiveness and safety.Methods:Patients with ventricular arrhythmia (VA) were evaluated and included in this clinical trial, who were immobilized by vacuum bag and performed simulation with 4-dimensional computed tomography (4DCT). In this study, the planning target volume (PTV) was set as the target to design a SBRT plan using volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT), which was evaluated by dose parameters such as R 50%, homogeneity index and conformity index, etc. The results of Holter and echocardiography were monitored during the follow-up and compared with the data before treatment. Results:Three subjects with ventricular tachycardia (VT) and one with premature ventricular contraction (PVC) received the same prescription of 25 Gy in a single fraction. The average volume of PTV was 71.4 cm 3(60.3-89.4 cm 3). The average time of beam delivery was 12.0 min (4.5-21.0 min). And the short-term follow-up lasted for an average of 18 weeks (14-25 weeks), which showed significant decrease in both VT and PVC load without complications. Conclusion:This study reports the implementation method of SCRA and proves its short-term effectiveness and safety, but the effects and standards of the key radiotherapy techniques still need to be explored.
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OBJECTIVE@#Whether the developed new type of radiotherapy auxiliary fixation device compatible with the head and neck joint coil can improve the quality of magnetic resonance images in radiotherapy and verify whether it can be applied to clinical treatment.@*METHODS@#The clinical trial selected patients with brain metastases and nasopharyngeal cancer patients, using thermoplastic film and head and shoulder molds for posture fixation, and treatment on the ELekta Versa accelerator. SPSS 20.0 statistical software was used to analyze the data. The measurement data were expressed by @*RESULTS@#Considering the influence of the outer contour of the device, the target dose meets the clinical requirements. The setting error is less than 2 mm in the three translation directions, and the rotation error is less than 2@*CONCLUSIONS@#There is no statistical difference between the treatment results of patients using the new type of fixation device and the conventional method. The target area threatens the organ dose, and the positioning error meets the treatment requirements.
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Humans , Magnetic Resonance Imaging , Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy , Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms , Neck , PostureABSTRACT
Accurate CT simulation is the key link of precision radiotherapy, and the performance of the localization couch of CT simulator directly affects the accuracy of radiotherapy. With the rapid development of precision radiotherapy, conventional large aperture radiotherapy special CT simulator is difficult to meet the needs of precision radiotherapy localization, so most radiotherapy centers choose high-end diagnostic CT machines equipped with a flat tabletop for radiotherapy localization. In clinical work, the performance testing of the CT simulator localization couch is easy to be ignored. In addition, there are some problems such as insufficient precision in transforming the cradle-shaped couch top of diagnostic CT into a special flat couch top for radiotherapy. This paper provided an in-depth description of the improved design and performance test of the localization couch of the first special GE Revolution CT simulator for radiotherapy introduced by West China Hospital of Sichuan University. After the improvement, all the acceptance tests of the localization couch are in line with the standard, and the performance meets the high-precision radiotherapy localization needs of patients with different body weight in the center.
Subject(s)
Humans , China , Computer Simulation , Phantoms, Imaging , Radiotherapy Planning, Computer-Assisted , Tomography, X-Ray ComputedABSTRACT
Clinically, beam matching can greatly improve the flexibility and efficiency of treating patients between different medical electron linacs. However, in addition to the regular quality assurance (QA) test of the machine performance of linacs, there is still a lack of comprehensive evaluation of the clinical radiotherapy performance of beam-matched linacs. In this paper, the performance of volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) between three closely matched linacs was evaluated by statistical process control (SPC) technology. It was found that the average and median γ passing rates of the VMAT QA processes of the three linacs had little difference, but the process capability levels were at three different levels. The results show that SPC technology can effectively evaluate the performance of beam matching for medical electron linacs, improve the patient-specific VMAT QA processes, and guide clinical decision-making.
Subject(s)
Electrons , Particle Accelerators , Quality Assurance, Health Care , Radiotherapy Dosage , Radiotherapy Planning, Computer-Assisted , Radiotherapy, Intensity-ModulatedABSTRACT
Objective:To investigate the impacts of gantry rotation angle errors, monitor unit (MU) errors, collimator and multi-leaf collimator (MLC) position errors upon the γ passing rate of dose verification in volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT).Methods:Ten patients with rectal cancer and 10 patients with uterine tumors were selected. The operating errors of accelerator parameters were introduced during the VMAT execution. By comparing the γ passing rates during dose verification between the simulating and original plans, the impact and sensitivity of the operating errors of each accelerator parameter on γ passing rate were analyzed.Results:When the γ criteria were set as 3%/3 mm, 3%/2 mm and 2%/2 mm, the γ passing rate decreasing gradient was less than 7.0% after the introduction of gantry rotation angle, MU and collimator position errors, respectively. However, after the reverse, opposite, and co-directional motion errors of the MLC blades on both sides were introduced, the γ passing rate decreasing was less than 19.13 %, 18.53%, 0.19 %; 19.87%, 20.01%, 0.42 % and 23.11%, 23.45%, 0.65 % for absolute dose verification, respectively.Conclusion:During VMAT, the reverse and opposite motion errors of MLC blades exert more significant effect on the γ passing rate compared with the gantry rotation angle errors, MU errors, collimator position errors and co-directional motion errors of the MLC blades. When the γ criteria of 3%/3 mm, 3%/2 mm and 2%/2 mm are adopted, the impact of accelerator operating errors upon the γ passing rate is strengthened in sequence. Therefore, when performing dose verification for a specific patient, appropriate γ criteria should be chosen and absolute dose verification should be taken as the reference index to evaluate the consistency between the calculated and measured dose distribution.
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Dose-guided radiotherapy (DGRT) is a potentially useful adaptive radiotherapy method which dosimetrically compensates for interfractional non-rigid deformation.With the improvement of in-room imaging quality,development of the deformation registration algorithm and innovation of computer science,the wide application of DGRT might be realized.The purpose of this article is to briefly summarize the work flow,clinical application and prospect of DGRT.
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Dose-guided radiotherapy (DGRT) is a potentially useful adaptive radiotherapy method which dosimetrically compensates for interfractional non-rigid deformation. With the improvement of in-room imaging quality, development of the deformation registration algorithm and innovation of computer science, the wide application of DGRT might be realized. The purpose of this article is to briefly summarize the work flow, clinical application and prospect of DGRT.
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Patient-specific volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) quality assurance (QA) process is an important component of the implementation process of clinical radiotherapy. The tolerance limit and action limit of discrepancies between the calculated dose and the delivered radiation dose are the key parts of the VMAT QA processes as recognized by the AAPM TG-218 report, however, there is no unified standard for these two values among radiotherapy centers. In this study, based on the operational recommendations given in the AAPM TG-218 report, treatment site-specific tolerance limits and action limits of gamma pass rate in VMAT QA processes when using ArcCHECK for dose verification were established by statistical process control (SPC) methodology. The tolerance limit and action limit were calculated based on the first 25 in-control VMAT QA for each site. The individual control charts were drawn to continuously monitor the VMAT QA process with 287 VMAT plans and analyze the causes of VMAT QA out of control. The tolerance limits for brain, head and neck, abdomen and pelvic VMAT QA processes were 94.56%, 94.68%, 94.34%, and 92.97%, respectively, and the action limits were 93.82%, 92.54%, 93.23%, and 90.29%, respectively. Except for pelvic, the tolerance limits for the brain, head and neck, and abdomen were close to the universal tolerance limit of TG-218 (95%), and the action limits for all sites were higher than the universal action limit of TG-218 (90%). The out-of-control VMAT QAs were detected by the individual control chart, including one case of head and neck, two of the abdomen and two of the pelvic site. Four of them were affected by the setup error, and one was affected by the calibration of ArcCHECK. The results show that the SPC methodology can effectively monitor the IMRT/VMAT QA processes. Setting treatment site-specific tolerance limits is helpful to investigate the cause of out-of-control VMAT QA.
Subject(s)
Humans , Calibration , Quality Assurance, Health Care , Radiotherapy Dosage , Radiotherapy Planning, Computer-Assisted , Radiotherapy, Intensity-ModulatedABSTRACT
MRI simulation images quality of head and neck coil scanning is better than that of radiotherapy surface coil, but currently the head and neck coil is not compatible with radiotherapy positioning devices. In this paper, a new fixation device is developed based on computer reverse engineering technology, which can be used in combination with head and neck coil. This article focuses on discussing the feasibility of the new device in radiotherapy. The obtained ACR phantom and Cat phantom 504 images were used to analyze MR and CT images quality assurance indicators. The dose attenuation of 6 MV photons was measured using the ionization chamber. The results showed each index met the clinical application requirements of intracranial tumor radiotherapy, thereby it can be used in intracranial tumor radiotherapy.
Subject(s)
Humans , Feasibility Studies , Head and Neck Neoplasms , Diagnostic Imaging , Magnetic Resonance Imaging , Phantoms, Imaging , Radiotherapy Planning, Computer-AssistedABSTRACT
Objective To analyze the precision and stability of optical surface imaging system for patients who received radiotherapy with active breath control. Methods Eighteen radiotherapy patients with lung metastasis were managed by active breath control (ABC).The difference error detected by optical surface imaging system and CBCT were defined as the precision of optical surface imaging system. The variation among the error of optical surface imaging positioning the value of correction of treatment position and the error detected by optical surface imaging again were defined as the stability of optical surface imaging system. Intrafractional errors were analyzed by optical surface imaging system through whole treatment process (including breath hold and free breath). Results The optical surface imaging system had precision (systematic (Σ) and random errors (σ)) of 1.78/3.42 mm 2.54/6.57 mm and 2.79/3.22 mm respectively and stability of2.12/2.54 mm 3. 09/4.02 mm and 1.37/3.55 mm respectively in lateral-medial superior-inferior and anterior-posterior directions. The intrafractional errors (Σ and σ) were 0.42/0.85 mm 0.41/1.47 mm and 0.41/1.47 mm respectively for breath hold duration and 4.76/4.16 mm 6.54/7.78 mm and 3.13/5.92 mm for free breath duration in lateral-medial superior-inferior and anterior-posterior directions. Conclusions As an effective method for validate breath hold;Optical surface imaging system can improve the precision and safety of active breath control. However,the factors that affect the accuracy and stability of the optical surface imaging system in patients undergoing radiotherapy with ABC are not clear;it cannot replace the CBCT for positioning verification.
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Objective To assess the feasibility of the log file-based three-dimensional independent dose verification system for the quality assurance of clinical radiotherapy.Methods The statistical values of the percentage depth dose,off-axis curves and output factor calculated by the Mobius system were statistically compared with the measured data by three-dimensional water tank.The three-dimensional independent dose verification in clinical radiotherapy plan and the acceleratr log file-based three-dimensional dose verification during the treatment were performed in 17 patients with nasopharyngeal cancer.The accuracy of dose calculation and reconstruction of Mobius system was assessed.A statistical analysis was performed on the intra-fractionalγpass rate (3％/3 mm) for each patient to evaluate the stability of intra-fractional radiotherapy.Results The percentage depth dose,off-axis curve and output factor statistically calculated by the Mobius system matched well with the data measured by three-dimensional water tank.The dose-volume histogram (DVH) parameters between the target area and organ at risk during clinical radiotherapy plan were statistically compared in 17 patients with nasopharyngeal cancer.The maximum deviation was-2.16％ for the three-dimensional independent dose verification in the clinical radiotherapy plan,and 0.18 Gy for the accelerator log file-based three-dimensional dose verification.The averageγpass rate for 17 nasopharyngeal cancer patients was 99.26％,and the maximum deviation of intra-fractional radiotherapy was below 0.5％.Conclusions The function of dose reconstruction and independent calculation of the Mobius system yeilds the same accuracy with the treatment planning system,which can quickly perform three-dimensional independent dose verification in the clinical radiotherapy plan and accelerator log file-based three-dimensional dose verification throughout the treatment,thereby guarantting and providing the safe and reliable technical support for clinical treatment.
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While emphasizing" Precision Medicine" nowadays,comprehending the specificity of patients and pathology is the key to achieving the precision diagnosis and treatment.Radiomics is a high-throughput quantitative analysis that combines the quantitative features from the region of interest on medical image and the biology and heterogeneity of tumor.It provides a non-invasive,convenient,dynamic,and quantitative method to collect the patient's specific features of pathology and gene.Radiomics holds promise for the precision diagnosis and treatment of brain tumor.It can be used for molecular pathology diagnosis,definition of tumor boundaries,prognosis,prediction of complications,and so on.It helps to develop individualized measures for the prevention,diagnosis,treatment,and prognostic monitoring based on their disease features.
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Objective To investigate the precision and stability of optical surface imaging (OSI)system Catalyst in guiding radiotherapy positioning.Methods A total of 52 patients with five different tumor sites who underwent cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT)-guided radiotherapy were recruited in this investigation.For the first treatment fraction,the setup error was recorded as C after online CBCT correction,and the surface images of patients taken by Catalyst were set as the reference images Cref.For the following treatment fraction,patients were pre-corrected according to the Catalyst Cref image with the acceptable errors within 2 mm/ 2,and the pre-corrected errors were recorded as C1.Then,after online CBCT correction,the setup errors were recorded as C.The errors between post-corrected Catalyst surface image and Cref image were recorded as C2.For each treatment fraction,the difference between Catalyst correction errors C1 and CBCT corrected errors C was recorded as d1,and the difference between the post-corrected Catalyst errors C2 and Cref image was recorded as d2.d3=d1-d2.The values of d1 and d3 in the 6 dimensions were analyzed using single sample t-test.The correlation between C-C1 and d1-d2 was statistically analyzed by Pearson correlation analysis.Results The mean value of d1 and d3 for 52 patients were within 2 mm/2 °.CBCT-C1 and d1-d2 were both significantly correlated (R =3,7,P=0.00,0.01).Conclusions OSI system yield high accuracy and stability in radiotherapy positioning,which is of certain significance in radiotherapy positioning for cancer patients.
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Objective To investigate the dosimetric effect of accelerator gantry rotation angle errors, collimator and multileaf collimator ( MLC) leaf position errors on volumetric-modulated arc therapy ( VMAT) for cervical cancer. Methods A total of 10 patients with cervical cancer were selected. The plan. Trail file of each clinical plan was extracted from the Pinnacle3 V9. 2 planning system of USA Philips, then the operating parameters of tach control point were read and modified by Matlab programs, and thus the operating error of the accelerator was simulated. Results In this paper, it was discovered that systematic accelerator gantry rotation angle errors, systematic collimator position errors and systematic MLC shift errors which led to the maximum changes of the PTV dose limit were 0. 16％, 0. 46％ and 0. 57％, respectively, and the maximum changes of the dose limit of organs at risk ( OAR) were 0. 38％, -1. 32％ and -0. 44％, respectively. When the systematic MLC gap width errors were ± 0. 5, ± 1 and ± 2 mm, respectively, the maximum changes of PTV dose were 2. 11％, 3. 04％ and 6. 03％, respectively, while the maximum changes of the OAR average dose were 2. 17％, 3. 92％ and 7. 97％, respectively. Furthermore, the dose limits of PTV and OAR showed a strong linear correlation with MLC open or close errors(t=21. 201～90. 562,P<0. 05). If actual errors of each parameter of accelerator were introduced, the maximum changes of PTV and OAR dose limits were 0. 16％ and 1. 30％, respectively, and conformity index (CI) and homogeneity index (HI) were barely changed. Conclusions No significant effect was found for systematic accelerator gantry rotation angle errors, systematic collimator position errors and systematic MLC shift errors for cervical cancer VMAT patients. However, there is a high sensitivity to dose distribution for MLC open or close errors. Therefore, it is necessary to pay more attention on the quality control of the accelerator running in particular MLC position errors to ensure the therapeutic accuracy.
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With the rapid development of radiotherapy technology, traditional quality management will shift from a device-centric strategy to a process involving multiple people. In recent years,failure mode and effect analysis(FMEA)based on predictive risk assessment has gradually been applied in the quality management of radiotherapy process. The FMEA approach mainly includes four steps: process tree management,FMEA, error tree analysis, and the design of scheme for process quality management. The specific methods and results are different due to the specificity of radiotherapy process and the subjectivity of participants. Its reliability and feasibility have also been considered and verified. This article reviews the application of FMEA approach in some radiotherapy centers.
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Objective To analyze the displacement of titanium clips for tumor bed localization after breast-conserving surgery for breast cancer and its influential factors.Methods A retrospective analysis was performed on the cone-beam computed tomography (CT) images of 14 patients with breast cancer who received radiotherapy after breast-conserving surgery from April to October,2016.The relative position of the chest wall and the errors of the titanium clips in radiotherapy were measured.A Pearson correlation analysis was used to analyze the correlation of the displacement of titanium clips with the relative position of titanium clips,the breast volume,the vertical distance between the titanium clips and the tangential line of the chest wall,and the maximum thickness of the breast.Results The system errors of the chest wall in left-right,superior-inferior,and anterior-posterior directions were 4.42,3.44,and 5.13 mm,respectively,and the random errors were 3.55,3.07,and 4.54 mm,respectively.The titanium clips had a large displacement relative to the chest wall,mainly in the left-right direction.The maximum system error was 4.39 mm and the random error was 2.42 mm.The displacement of titanium clips was not significantly correlated with the breast volume and the maximum thickness of the breast (P>0.05).However,the relative position of titanium clips in superior-inferior direction was significantly correlated with the displacement of the lowest,the most lateral,the most anterior,and the most posterior titanium clips (P<0.05).As to the uppermost clips,there was a significant difference in displacement between the clips close to the chest wall and the clips far from the chest wall (P=0.02).Conclusions Due to large setup error and displacement of titanium clips during radiotherapy,simultaneous integrated boost is not suitable for patients with breast cancer who are immobilized by vacuum cushion and received radiotherapy.The unstable immobilization may be the major influential factor for the displacement of titanium clips.
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In vivo dosimetry (IVD) is currently the most direct and effective means of quality assurance.The electronic portal imaging device (EPID) has been widely used for IVD verification owing to its favorable dosimetric properties.In recent years,an increasing number of EPID-based IVD studies have emerged around the world.The purpose of this paper is to give an overview of the present progress in EPID-based IVD studies,and to provide a reference for the subsequent application of EPID in IVD.
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Independent check is one of the key measures of quality control (QC) in radiotherapy and is essential for the assurance of radiotherapy accuracy.In recent years,with the application of computer-aided system,the automaticity of independent check,as well as its accuracy and efficiency,increases.Meanwhile,QC has evolved from a device-centered to a process-centered program.Therefore,independent check has been increasingly systematic and specific.This review gives a brief summary of the implementation and development of independent check.
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Objective To analyze the impact of electronic portal imagingdevice (EPID) position error on three-dimensional dose verification of volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT).Metbods Five Suremark SL-20 lead points were fixed on Elekta tray,and EPID images were collected in 0-360° rotation,one image per 5°.The position error relative to the accelerator was analyzed via Matlab.Then the images position error was corrected according to the analysis,and the 3D dose was reconstructed with the corrected images.The dose distributions of double arcs,clockwise arc(arc 1),and counterclockwise arc (arc 2) of 16 nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients' VMAT plan were evaluated by γ analysis,and the results of before and after position error correction were compared.Results Compared to 0° gantry angle,the error of source to the image distance (SID) was maximum (1.20 cm) when the gantry angle was 180°.On account of the SID change,the maximum error along the up-down (y) direction in the iso-center planar was 2.28 mm and the left-right (x) direction error was within ± O.5 mm.The 3D γ analyses of 16 nasopharyngeal carcinoma in VMAT plans were obviously increased after the position error along y was corrected.The double arcs,arc1 and arc 2 were increased by (4.12 ±1.67) ％ (t =-9.86,P＜ 0.05),(3.47±1.64) ％ (t=-8.46,P＜ 0.05) and (5.08±1.30) ％ (t=-15.63,P＜ 0.05) in 5％/3 mm standard,respectively.However,in 3％/3 mm standard,γ value of the double arcs,arc 1 and arc2 were increased by (7.63 ±2.24) ％ (t =-13.63,P＜ 0.05),(6.03 ±2.07) ％ (t =-11.66,P＜ 0.05),(9.17 ±2.23) ％ (t =-16.41,P＜ 0.05),respectively.Since the EPID position error along x was corrected after y,the 3D γ analysis of reconstruction dose indicated that the average of the 5％/3 mm and 3％/3 mm γ value were increased by 0.23％ and 0.24％,respectively.Conclusions EPID motion error along the gantry to table direction of the accelerator can't be ignored.When reconstruct dose based on EPID,a modification should be made for rebuilding more accurate patients' 3D dose distribution.