RESUMEN
Background: As compared to the flattened photon beam, removing the flattening filter (FF) from the head of a gantry decreases the average energy of the photon beam and increases the dose rate, leading to an impact on the quality of treatment plans. Objective: This study aimed to compare the quality of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) treatment plans for esophageal cancer with and without a flattened filter photon beam. Material and Methods: In this analytical study, 12 patients, who had already been treated with a 6X FF photon beam, were treated based on new IMRT methods using a 6X the flattening filter-free (FFF) photon beam. Both 6X FF IMRT and 6X FFF IMRT plans used identical beam parameters and planning objectives. All plans were evaluated with planning indices and doses for organs at risk (OARs). Results: Insignificant dose variation was for HI, CI, D98%, and V95% between FF and FFF photon beam IMRT plans. FF-based IMRT plan delivered a 15.51 % and 11.27% higher mean dose to both lungs and heart than the FFF plan, respectively. The integral dose (ID) for the heart and lungs was 11.21% and 15.51%, respectively, less in the IMRT plan with an FFF photon beam. Conclusion: In contrast to the FF photon beam, a filtered photon beam-oriented IMRT plan provides significant OAR sparing without losing the quality of the treatment plan. High monitor units (MUs), low ID, and Beam on Time (BOT) are major highlights of the IMRT plan with FFF beam.
RESUMEN
Background: Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) may have too many peaks and valleys, making the treatment plan undeliverable. When there are too many fluency differences between adjacent pixels in the X or Y directions, the X and Y smoothing factors are utilized as weighting factors to penalize this behavior. Generally, a high degree of complexity is accompanied by many monitor units (MUs), large number of segments, small sized segments, and complex segment shapes. The degree of plan delivery uncertainty can all increase with a higher detailed fluence map. Aim: This study aims to evaluate the dosimetric effects of various smoothing levels on the planning target volume (PTV) and organs at risk (OARs) for cervix cancer. Materials and Methods: IMRT treatment plans were re-optimized by combining several values of the X and Y penalty between 0 and 100. The dose-volume histogram assessed various dosimetric indicators for PTV and OARs. Additionally, gamma passing rates were evaluated and noted as an indicator of the complex treatment plan. Results: At X = 60, Y = 60 fluence map penalty, the conformity index (CI) value reached its highest value of 0.996 ± 0.004. At X = 0, Y = 0, the homogeneity index (HI) was determined to have a maximum value of 0.0628 ± 0.0235. The highest and lowest MU values were 2424.30 ± 471.12 and 1087.80 ± 91.57, respectively, with X = 0, Y = 0 and X = 100, Y = 100. At X = 100, Y = 100, the gamma passing rate reaches its highest value of 99.28% ± 0.44% and minimum value of 85.93% ± 3.87% at X = 0, Y = 0. Conclusion: The CI and HI values showed no discernible fluctuation, and the OAR doses were barely affected as smoothing was increased. When the smoothing factor was raised, the number of MUs sharply dropped, and a decrease in the number of segments and higher gamma passing rates were also seen.