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In this study, we have characterized the efficiency of an Elekta linac in the delivery of gated radiotherapy. We have explored techniques to reduce the beam‐on delay and to improve the delivery efficiency, and have investigated the impact of frequent beam interruptions on the dosimetric accuracy of gated deliveries. A newly available gating interface was installed on an Elekta Synergy. Gating signals were generated using a surface mapping system in conjunction with a respiratory motion phantom. A series of gated deliveries were performed using volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) treatment plans previously generated for lung cancer patients treated with stereotactic body radiotherapy. Baseline values were determined for the delivery times. The machine was then tuned in an effort to minimize beam‐on delays and improve delivery efficiency. After that process was completed, the dosimetric accuracy of the gated deliveries was evaluated by comparing the measured and the planned coronal dose distributions using gamma index analyses. Comparison of the gated and the non‐gated deliveries were also performed. The results demonstrated that, with the optimal machine settings, the average beam‐on delay was reduced to less than 0.22 s. High dosimetric accuracy was demonstrated with gamma index passing rates no lower than 99.0% for all tests (3%/3 mm criteria). Consequently, Elekta linacs can provide a practical solution for gated VMAT treatments with high dosimetric accuracy and only a moderate increase in the overall delivery time. PACS numbers: 87.56.bd, 87.55.de, 87.55.ne

In this study, we evaluated the performance of an Elekta linac in the delivery of gated radiotherapy. Delivery accuracy was examined with an emphasis on the impact of using short gating windows (low monitor unit beam‐on segments) or long beam hold times. The performance was assessed using a 20cm by 20cm open field with the radiation delivered using a range of beam‐on and beam‐off time periods. Gated delivery measurements were also performed for two SBRT plans delivered using volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT). Tests included both free‐breathing based gating (covering a variety of gating windows) and simulated breath‐hold based gating. An IBA MatriXX 2D ion chamber array was used for data collection, and the gating accuracy at low MU was evaluated using gamma passing rates. For the 20 cm by 20 cm open field, the measurements generally showed close agreement between the gated and non‐gated beam deliveries. Discrepancies, however, began to appear with a 5‐to‐1 ratio of the beam‐off to beam‐on times. The discrepancies observed for these tight gating windows can be attributed to the small number of monitor units delivered during each beam‐on segment. Dose distribution analysis from the delivery of the two SBRT plans showed gamma passing rates (± 1%, 2%/1 mm) in the range of 95% to 100% for gating windows of 25%, 38%, 50%, 63%, 75%, and 83%. Using a simulated sinusoidal breathing signal with a 4 second period, the gamma passing rate of free‐breathing gating and breath‐hold gating deliveries were measured in the range of 95.7% to 100%. In conclusion, the results demonstrate that Elekta linacs can accurately deliver respiratory gated treatments for both free‐breathing and breath‐hold patients. Some caution should be exercised with the use of very tight gating windows.

Purpose The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of tumor motion on dose delivery in stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) for lung cancer, using fixed field intensity- modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) and volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT). Methods and Materials For each of 10 patients with stage I/II non-small-cell pulmonary tumors, a respiration-correlated four-dimensional computed tomography (4DCT) study was carried out. The internal target volume was delineated on the maximum intensity projection CT, which was reconstructed from the 4DCT dataset. A 5-mm margin was used for generation of the planning target volume. VMAT and five-field IMRT plans were generated using Pinnacle 3 SmartArc and direct machine parameter optimization, respectively. All plans were generated for an Elekta Synergy linear accelerator using 6-MV photons. Simulation was performed to study the interplay between multileaf collimator (MLC) sequences and target movement during the delivery of VMAT and IMRT. For each plan, 4D dose was calculated using deformable image registration of the 4DCT images. Target volume coverage and doses to critical structures calculated using 4D methodology were compared with those calculated using 3D methodology. Results For all patients included in this study, the interplay effect was found to present limited impact (less than 1% of prescription) on the target dose distribution, especially for SBRT, in which fewer fractions (three fractions) are delivered. Dose to the gross tumor volume (GTV) was, on average, slightly decreased (1% of prescription) in the 4D calculation compared with the 3D calculation. The motion impact on target dose homogeneity was patient-dependent and relatively small. Conclusions Both VMAT and IMRT plans experienced negligible interplay effects between MLC sequence and tumor motion. For the most part, the 3D doses to the GTV and critical structures provided good approximations of the 4D dose calculations.

Purpose: Intensity modulated arc therapy (IMAT) is a radiation therapy delivery technique that combines the efficiency of arc based delivery with the dose painting capabilities of intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). A key challenge in developing robust inverse planning solutions for IMAT is the need to account for the connectivity of the beam shapes as the gantry rotates from one beam angle to the next. To overcome this challenge, inverse planning solutions typically impose a leaf motion constraint that defines the maximum distance a multileaf collimator (MLC) leaf can travel between adjacent control points. The leaf motion constraint ensures the deliverability of the optimized plan, but it also impacts the plan quality, the delivery accuracy, and the delivery efficiency. In this work, the authors have studied leaf motion constraints in detail and have developed recommendations for optimizing the balance between plan quality and delivery efficiency. Methods: Two steps were used to generate optimized IMAT treatment plans. The first was the direct machine parameter optimization (DMPO) inverse planning module in the Pinnacle{sup 3} planning system. Then, a home-grown arc sequencer was applied to convert the optimized intensity maps into deliverable IMAT arcs. IMAT leaf motion constraints were imposed using limits ofmore » between 1 and 30 mm/deg. Dose distributions were calculated using the convolution/superposition algorithm in the Pinnacle{sup 3} planning system. The IMAT plan dose calculation accuracy was examined using a finer sampling calculation and the quality assurance verification. All plans were delivered on an Elekta Synergy with an 80-leaf MLC and were verified using an IBA MatriXX 2D ion chamber array inserted in a MultiCube solid water phantom. Results: The use of a more restrictive leaf motion constraint (less than 1-2 mm/deg) results in inferior plan quality. A less restrictive leaf motion constraint (greater than 5 mm/deg) results in improved plan quality but can lead to less accurate dose distribution as evidenced by increasing discrepancies between the planned and the delivered doses. For example, the results from our patient-specific quality assurance measurements demonstrated that the average gamma analysis passing rate decreased from 98% to 80% when the allowable leaf motion increased from 3 to 20 mm/deg. Larger leaf motion constraints also led to longer treatment delivery times (2 to 4 folds) due to the additional MLC leaf motion. Conclusions: Leaf motion constraints significantly impact IMAT plans in terms of plan quality, delivery accuracy, and delivery efficiency with the impact magnified for more complex cases. Our studies indicate that a leaf motion constraint of 2 to 3 mm/deg of gantry rotation can provide an optimal balance between plan quality, delivery accuracy, and efficiency.« less

Volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) has the potential to reduce treatment times while producing comparable or improved dose distributions relative to fixed-field intensity-modulated radiation therapy. In order to take full advantage of the VMAT delivery technique, one must select a robust inverse planning tool. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of VMAT planning techniques of three categories: anatomy-based, fluence-based and aperture-based inverse planning. We have compared these techniques in terms of the plan quality, planning efficiency and delivery efficiency. Fourteen patients were selected for this study including six head-and-neck (HN) cases, and two cases each of prostate, pancreas, lung and partial brain. For each case, three VMAT plans were created. The first VMAT plan was generated based on the anatomical geometry. In the Elekta ERGO++ treatment planning system (TPS), segments were generated based on the beam's eye view (BEV) of the target and the organs at risk. The segment shapes were then exported to Pinnacle TPS followed by segment weight optimization and final dose calculation. The second VMAT plan was generated by converting optimized fluence maps (calculated by the Pinnacle TPS) into deliverable arcs using an in-house arc sequencer. The third VMAT plan was generated using the Pinnacle SmartArc IMRT module which is an aperture-based optimization method. All VMAT plans were delivered using an Elekta Synergy linear accelerator and the plan comparisons were made in terms of plan quality and delivery efficiency. The results show that for cases of little or modest complexity such as prostate, pancreas, lung and brain, the anatomy-based approach provides similar target coverage and critical structure sparing, but less conformal dose distributions as compared to the other two approaches. For more complex HN cases, the anatomy-based approach is not able to provide clinically acceptable VMAT plans while highly conformal dose distributions were obtained using both aperture-based and fluence-based inverse planning techniques. The aperture-based approach provides improved dose conformity than the fluence-based technique in complex cases.

Purpose: Helical tomotherapy (HT) and volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) are arc-based approaches to IMRT delivery. The objective of this study is to compare VMAT to both HT and fixed field IMRT in terms of plan quality, delivery efficiency, and accuracy. Methods: Eighteen cases including six prostate, six head-and-neck, and six lung cases were selected for this study. IMRT plans were developed using direct machine parameter optimization in the Pinnacle{sup 3} treatment planning system. HT plans were developed using a Hi-Art II planning station. VMAT plans were generated using both the Pinnacle{sup 3} SmartArc IMRT module and a home-grown arc sequencing algorithm. VMAT and HT plans were delivered using Elekta's PreciseBeam VMAT linac control system (Elekta AB, Stockholm, Sweden) and a TomoTherapy Hi-Art II system (TomoTherapy Inc., Madison, WI), respectively. Treatment plan quality assurance (QA) for VMAT was performed using the IBA MatriXX system while an ion chamber and films were used for HT plan QA. Results: The results demonstrate that both VMAT and HT are capable of providing more uniform target doses and improved normal tissue sparing as compared with fixed field IMRT. In terms of delivery efficiency, VMAT plan deliveries on average took 2.2 min for prostate andmore » lung cases and 4.6 min for head-and-neck cases. These values increased to 4.7 and 7.0 min for HT plans. Conclusions: Both VMAT and HT plans can be delivered accurately based on their own QA standards. Overall, VMAT was able to provide approximately a 40% reduction in treatment time while maintaining comparable plan quality to that of HT.« less

The recent development in linear accelerator control systems, named volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT), has generated significant interest in arc-based intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). The VMAT delivery technique features simultaneous changes in dose rate, gantry angle and gantry rotation speed as well as multi-leaf collimator (MLC) leaf positions while radiation is on. In this paper, we describe a generalized VMAT planning tool that is designed to take full advantage of the capabilities of the new linac control systems. The algorithm incorporates all of the MLC delivery constraints such as restrictions on MLC leaf interdigitation and the MLC leaf velocity constraints. A key feature of the algorithm is that it is able to plan for both single- and multiple-arc deliveries. Compared to conventional step-and-shoot IMRT plans, our VMAT plans created using this tool can achieve similar or better plan quality with less MU and better delivery efficiency. The accuracy of the obtained VMAT plans is also demonstrated through plan verifications performed on an Elekta Synergy linear accelerator equipped with a conventional MLC of 1 cm leaf width using a PreciseBeam? VMAT linac control system.

Purpose Intrafraction organ motion can produce dosimetric errors in radiotherapy. Commonly, the linear accelerator is gated using real-time breathing phase obtained by way of external sensors. However, the external anatomy does not always correlate well with the internal position. We examined a beam gating technique using signals from implanted wireless transponders that provided real-time feedback on the tumor location without an imaging dose to the patient. Methods and Materials An interface was developed between Calypso Medical's four-dimensional electromagnetic tracking system and a Varian Trilogy linear accelerator. A film phantom was mounted on a motion platform programmed with lung motion trajectories. Deliveries were performed when the beam was gated according to the signal from the wireless transponders. The dosimetric advantages of beam gating and the system latencies were quantified. Results Beam gating using on internal position monitoring provided up to a twofold increase in the dose gradients. The percentage of points failing to be within ±10 cGy of the planned dose (maximal dose, ∼200 cGy) was 3.4% for gating and 32.1% for no intervention in the presence of motion. The mean latencies between the transponder position and linear accelerator modulation were 75.0 ±12.7 ms for beam on and 65.1 ± 12.9 ms for beam off. Conclusion We have presented the results from a novel method for gating the linear accelerator using trackable wireless internal fiducial markers without the use of ionizing radiation for imaging. The latencies observed were suitable for gating using electromagnetic fiducial markers, which results in dosimetric improvements for irradiation in the presence of motion.

Intensity-modulated arc therapy (IMAT) is a rotational IMRT technique. It uses a set of overlapping or nonoverlapping arcs to create a prescribed dose distribution. Despite its numerous advantages, IMAT has not gained widespread clinical applications. This is mainly due to the lack of an effective IMAT leaf-sequencing algorithm that can convert the optimized intensity patterns for all beam directions into IMAT treatment arcs. To address this problem, we have developed an IMAT leaf-sequencing algorithm and software using graph algorithms in computer science. The input to our leaf-sequencing software includes (1) a set of (continuous) intensity patterns optimized by a treatment planning system at a sequence of equally spaced beam angles (typically 10 deg. apart), (2) a maximum leaf motion constraint, and (3) the number of desired arcs, k. The output is a set of treatment arcs that best approximates the set of optimized intensity patterns at all beam angles with guaranteed smooth delivery without violating the maximum leaf motion constraint. The new algorithm consists of the following key steps. First, the optimized intensity patterns are segmented into intensity profiles that are aligned with individual MLC leaf pairs. Then each intensity profile is segmented into k MLC leaf openings using amore » k-link shortest path algorithm. The leaf openings for all beam angles are subsequently connected together to form 1D IMAT arcs under the maximum leaf motion constraint using a shortest path algorithm. Finally, the 1D IMAT arcs are combined to form IMAT treatment arcs of MLC apertures. The performance of the implemented leaf-sequencing software has been tested for four treatment sites (prostate, breast, head and neck, and lung). In all cases, our leaf-sequencing algorithm produces efficient and highly conformal IMAT plans that rival their counterpart, the tomotherapy plans, and significantly improve the IMRT plans. Algorithm execution times ranging from a few seconds to 2 min are observed on a laptop computer equipped with a 2.0 GHz Pentium M processor.« less

Purpose: To assess efficacy and quality of life (QOL) outcomes associated with gamma-knife radiosurgery (GK-RS) in treating atypical trigeminal neuralgia (ATN) compared with classic trigeminal neuralgia (CTN). Methods and Materials: Between September 1996 and September 2004, 35 cases of ATN were treated with GK-RS. Patients were categorized into two groups: Group I comprised patients presenting with ATN (57%); Group II consisted of patients presenting with CTN then progressing to ATN (43%). Median prescription dose 75 Gy (range, 70–80 Gy) was delivered to trigeminal nerve root entry zone. Treatment efficacy and QOL improvements were assessed with a standardized questionnaire. Results: With median follow-up of 29 months (range, 3–74 months), 72% reported excellent/good outcomes, with mean time to relief of 5.8 weeks (range, 0–24 weeks) and mean duration of relief of 62 weeks (range, 1–163 weeks). This rate of pain relief is similar to rate achieved in our previously reported experience treating CTN with GK-RS ( p = 0.36). There was a trend toward longer time to relief ( p = 0.059), and shorter duration of relief ( p = 0.067) in patients with ATN. There was no difference in rate of, time to, or duration of pain relief between Groups I and II. Of the patients with ATN, 88% discontinued or decreased the use of pain medications. Among the patients with sustained pain relief, QOL improved an average of 85%. Conclusion: This is the largest reported GK-RS experience for the treatment of ATN. Patients with ATN can achieve rates of pain relief similar to those in patients with CTN. Further follow-up is necessary to assess adequately the durability of response.

An optimization framework for three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy is presented. In conformal therapy, beams of radiation are applied to a patient from different directions, where the aperture through which the beam is delivered from each direction is chosen to match the shape of the tumor, as viewed from that direction. Wedge filters may be used to produce a gradient in beam intensity across the aperture. Given a set of equispaced beam angles, a mixed-integer linear program can be solved to determine the most effective angles to be used in a treatment plan, the weight (exposure time) to be used for each beam, and the type and orientation of wedges to be used. Practical solution techniques for this problem are described; they include strengthening of the formulation and solution of smaller approximate problems obtained by a reduced parametrization of the treatment region. In addition, techniques for controlling the dose-volume histogram implicitly for various parts of the treatment region using hot- and cold-spot control parameters are presented. Computational results are given that show the effectiveness of the proposed approach on practical data sets.

Intensity modulated arc therapy (IMAT) is an intensity modulated radiation therapy delivery technique originally proposed as an alternative to tomotherapy. IMAT uses a series of overlapping arcs to deliver optimized intensity patterns from each beam direction. The full potential of IMAT has gone largely unrealized due in part to a lack of robust and commercially available inverse planning tools. To address this, we have implemented an IMAT arc-sequencing algorithm that translates optimized intensity maps into deliverable IMAT plans. The sequencing algorithm uses simulated annealing to simultaneously optimize the aperture shapes and weights throughout each arc. The sequencer enforces the delivery constraints while minimizing the discrepancies between the optimized and sequenced intensity maps. The performance of the algorithm has been tested for ten patient cases (3 prostate, 3 brain, 2 head-and-neck, 1 lung, and 1 pancreas). Seven coplanar IMAT plans were created using an average of 4.6 arcs and 685 monitor units. Additionally, three noncoplanar plans were created using an average of 16 arcs and 498 monitor units. The results demonstrate that the arc sequencer can provide efficient and highly conformal IMAT plans. An average sequencing time of approximately 20 min was observed.

Using direct aperture optimization, we have developed an inverse planning approach that is capable of producing efficient intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) treatment plans that can be delivered without a multileaf collimator. This "jaws-only" approach to IMRT uses a series of rectangular field shapes to achieve a high degree of intensity modulation from each beam direction. Direct aperture optimization is used to directly optimize the jaw positions and the relative weights assigned to each aperture. Because the constraints imposed by the jaws are incorporated into the optimization, the need for leaf sequencing is eliminated. Results are shown for five patient cases covering three treatment sites: pancreas, breast, and prostate. For these cases, between 15 and 20 jaws-only apertures were required per beam direction in order to obtain conformal IMRT treatment plans. Each plan was delivered to a phantom, and absolute and relative dose measurements were recorded. The typical treatment time to deliver these plans was 18 min. The jaws-only approach provides an additional IMRT delivery option for clinics without a multileaf collimator.

As intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) becomes routine clinical practice, its advantages and limitations are better understood. With these new understandings, some new developments have emerged in an effort to alleviate the limitations of the current IMRT practice. This article describes a few of these efforts made at the University of Maryland, including: i) improving IMRT efficiency with direct aperture optimization; ii) broadening the scope of optimization to include the mode of delivery and beam angles; and iii) new planning methods for intensity modulated arc therapy (IMAT).

A new leaf-sequencing approach has been developed that is designed to reduce the number of required beam segments for step-and-shoot intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). This approach to leaf sequencing is called continuous-intensity-map-optimization (CIMO). Using a simulated annealing algorithm, CIMO seeks to minimize differences between the optimized and sequenced intensity maps. Two distinguishing features of the CIMO algorithm are (1) CIMO does not require that each optimized intensity map be clustered into discrete levels and (2) CIMO is not rule-based but rather simultaneously optimizes both the aperture shapes and weights. To test the CIMO algorithm, ten IMRT patient cases were selected (four head-and-neck, two pancreas, two prostate, one brain, and one pelvis). For each case, the optimized intensity maps were extracted from the Pinnacle{sup 3} treatment planning system. The CIMO algorithm was applied, and the optimized aperture shapes and weights were loaded back into Pinnacle. A final dose calculation was performed using Pinnacle's convolution/superposition based dose calculation. On average, the CIMO algorithm provided a 54% reduction in the number of beam segments as compared with Pinnacle's leaf sequencer. The plans sequenced using the CIMO algorithm also provided improved target dose uniformity and a reduced discrepancy between the optimized and sequencedmore » intensity maps. For ten clinical intensity maps, comparisons were performed between the CIMO algorithm and the power-of-two reduction algorithm of Xia and Verhey [Med. Phys. 25(8), 1424-1434 (1998)]. When the constraints of a Varian Millennium multileaf collimator were applied, the CIMO algorithm resulted in a 26% reduction in the number of segments. For an Elekta multileaf collimator, the CIMO algorithm resulted in a 67% reduction in the number of segments. An average leaf sequencing time of less than one minute per beam was observed.« less

We have examined the degree to which step-and-shoot IMRT treatment plans can be simplified (using a small number of apertures) without sacrificing the dosimetric quality of the plans. A key element of this study was the use of direct aperture optimization (DAO), an inverse planning technique where all of the multi-leaf collimator constraints are incorporated into the optimization. For seven cases (1 phantom, 1 prostate, 3 head-and-neck and 2 lung), DAO was used to perform a series of optimizations where the number of apertures per beam direction varied from 1 to 15. In this work, we attempt to provide general guidelines for how many apertures per beam direction are sufficient for various clinical cases using DAO. Analysis of the optimized treatment plans reveals that for most cases, only modest improvements in the objective function and the corresponding DVHs are seen beyond 5 apertures per beam direction. However, for more complex cases, some dosimetric gain can be achieved by increasing the number of apertures per beam direction beyond 5. Even in these cases, however, only modest improvements are observed beyond 9 apertures per beam direction. In our clinical experience, 38 out of the first 40 patients treated using IMRT plans produced using DAO were treated with 9 or fewer apertures per beam direction. The results indicate that many step-and-shoot IMRT treatment plans delivered today are more complex than necessary and can be simplified without sacrificing plan quality.

We have studied the degree to which beamlet step-size impacts the quality of intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) treatment plans. Treatment planning for IMRT begins with the application of a grid that divides each beam's-eye-view of the target into a number of smaller beamlets (pencil beams) of radiation. The total dose is computed as a weighted sum of the dose delivered by the individual beamlets. The width of each beamlet is set to match the width of the corresponding leaf of the multileaf collimator (MLC). The length of each beamlet (beamlet step-size) is parallel to the direction of leaf travel. The beamlet step-size represents the minimum stepping distance of the leaves of the MLC and is typically predetermined by the treatment planning system. This selection imposes an artificial constraint because the leaves of the MLC and the jaws can both move continuously. Removing the constraint can potentially improve the IMRT plan quality. In this study, the optimized results were achieved using an aperture-based inverse planning technique called direct aperture optimization (DAO). We have tested the relationship between pencil beam step-size and plan quality using the American College of Radiology's IMRT test case. For this case, a series of IMRT treatment plans were produced using beamlet step-sizes of 1, 2, 5, and 10 mm. Continuous improvements were seen with each reduction in beamlet step size. The maximum dose to the planning target volume (PTV) was reduced from 134.7% to 121.5% and the mean dose to the organ at risk (OAR) was reduced from 38.5% to 28.2% as the beamlet step-size was reduced from 10 to 1 mm. The smaller pencil beam sizes also led to steeper dose gradients at the junction between the target and the critical structure with gradients of 6.0, 7.6, 8.7, and 9.1 dose%/mm achieved for beamlet step sizes of 10, 5, 2, and 1 mm, respectively.

Purpose: Surface guided radiation therapy (SGRT) uses stereoscopic video images in combination with patterns projected onto the patient's surface to dynamically capture and reconstruct a 3D surface map. In this work, we used a C-RAD Catalyst HD system (C-RAD) to evaluate intrafraction motion in the delivery of lung SBRT. Methods: The surface acquired from the 4DCT images from our preliminary cohort of eight lung cancer patients treated with SBRT were matched to the surface images acquired prior to each treatment. Additionally, a CBCT image set was acquired. A linear regression model was established between the external and internal motion of tumor during pretreatment and used to predict the CBCT deviation during treatment. The shifts determined from CBCT and the shifts from surface map imaging were compared and assessed using Bland-Altman method. For intrafraction motion, we assessed the percentage of mean errors that fell outside of the threshold of 2 mm, 3 mm, and 5 mm along the translational directions. The required PTV margin was quantified over the course of treatment. The correlation between intrafraction treatment time and mean error of 3D displacement was evaluated using the Pearson coefficient, r Results: A total of 7971 data points were analyzed. Deviations of 2mm, 3mm, and 5mm were observed less than 7%, 2 %, and 0 % of the time along the translational direction. CBCT and Catalyst showed close agreement during patient positioning. Furthermore, the calculated PTV margins were less than our clinical tolerance of 5 mm. Using the Pearson coefficient r,the mean error of 3D displacement showed significant correlation with treatment time (r=0.69, p= 0.000002). Conclusion: SGRT can be used to ensure accurate patient positioning during treatment without an additional delivery of dose to the patient. This study shows that importance of treatment time as a consideration during the treatment planning process.

Intensity-modulated arc therapy (IMAT) is a radiation therapy delivery technique that combines gantry rotation with dynamic multi-leaf collimation (MLC). With IMAT, the benefits of rotational IMRT can be realized using a conventional linear accelerator and a conventional MLC. Thus far, the advantages of IMAT have gone largely unrealized due to the lack of robust automated planning tools capable of producing efficient IMAT treatment plans. This work describes an inverse treatment planning algorithm, called 'direct aperture optimization' (DAO) that can be used to generate inverse treatment plans for IMAT. In contrast to traditional inverse planning techniques where the relative weights of a series of pencil beams are optimized, DAO optimizes the leaf positions and weights of the apertures in the plan. This technique allows any delivery constraints to be enforced during the optimization, eliminating the need for a leaf-sequencing step. It is this feature that enables DAO to easily create inverse plans for IMAT. To illustrate the feasibility of DAO applied to IMAT, several cases are presented, including a cylindrical phantom, a head and neck patient and a prostate patient.

Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS) has evolved as a unique discipline that combines aspects of both surgery and radiation oncology. Technological developments in the past few decades have provided a wide array of treatment techniques, including (i) the Gamma KnifeTM; (ii) Linac-based stereotactic techniques using circular collimators or using micro multileaf collimators (mMLCs); (iii) the Cyber KnifeTM, using an x-band linac mounted on a robotic arm; and (iv) serial and spiral tomotherapy. This paper provides a review of the treatment planning methods for stereotactic radiosurgery. Because of the differences in planning strategies used for each SRS technique, this paper will provide both a general review of the pre-requisites and common features of SRS treatment planning and the planning techniques specific to each of the SRS techniques.

The Gamma Knife is a highly specialized treatment unit that provides an advanced stereotactic approach to the treatment of tumors, vascular malformations, and pain disorders within the head. Inside a shielded treatment unit, multiple beams of radiation are focussed into an approximately spherical volume, generating a high dose shot of radiation. The treatment planning process attempts to cover the tumor with sufficient dosage without overdosing normal tissue or surrounding sensitive structures. An optimization problem is formulated that determines where to center the shots, for how long to expose each shot on the target, and what size focussing helmets should be used. We outline a new approach that models the dose distribution nonlinearly, and uses a smoothing approach to treat discrete problem choices. The resulting nonlinear program is not convex and several heuristic approaches are used to improve solution time and quality. The overall approach is fast and reliable; we give several results obtained from use in a clinical setting.

This chapter provides an introduction to treatment-planning procedures for stereotactic radiosurgery. The chapter begins with a brief history of the history of radiosurgery planning. Next, it covers the basic steps followed in the development of radiosurgery treatment plans including imaging, contouring, selection of plan parameters, and evaluating treatment plan quality. The chapter concludes with discussions of treatment planning for each of a number of specific delivery techniques including the Gamma Knife, linear accelerators, CyberKnife, and proton therapy systems.

Purpose: Intensity-modulated arc therapy (IMAT) is a method for delivering intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) using rotational beams. During delivery, the field shape, formed by a multileaf collimator (MLC), changes constantly. The objectives of this study were to ( 1 ) clinically implement the IMAT technique, and ( 2 ) evaluate the dosimetry in comparison with conventional three-dimensional (3D) conformal techniques. Methods and Materials: Forward planning with a commercial system (RenderPlan 3D, Precision Therapy International, Inc., Norcross, GA) was used for IMAT planning. Arcs were approximated as multiple shaped fields spaced every 5–10° around the patient. The number and ranges of the arcs were chosen manually. Multiple coplanar, superimposing arcs or noncoplanar arcs with or without a wedge were allowed. For comparison, conventional 3D conformal treatment plans were generated with the same commercial forward planning system as for IMAT. Intensity-modulated treatment plans were also created with a commercial inverse planning system (CORVUS, Nomos Corporation). A leaf-sequencing program was developed to generate the dynamic MLC prescriptions. IMAT treatment delivery was accomplished by programming the linear accelerator (linac) to deliver an arc and the MLC to step through a sequence of fields. Both gantry rotation and leaf motion were enslaved to the delivered MUs. Dosimetric accuracy of the entire process was verified with phantoms before IMAT was used clinically. For each IMAT treatment, a dry run was performed to assess the geometric and dosimetric accuracy. Both the central axis dose and dose distributions were measured and compared with predictions by the planning system. Results: By the end of May 2001, 50 patients had completed their treatments with the IMAT technique. Two to five arcs were needed to achieve highly conformal dose distributions. The IMAT plans provided better dose uniformity in the target and lower doses to normal structures than 3D conformal plans. The results varied when the comparison was made with fixed gantry IMRT. In general, IMAT plans provided more uniform dose distributions in the target, whereas the inverse-planned fixed gantry treatments had greater flexibility in controlling dose to the critical structures. Because the field sizes and shapes used in the IMAT were similar to those used in conventional treatments, the dosimetric uncertainty was very small. Of the first 32 patients treated, the average difference between the measured and predicted doses was −0.54 ± 1.72% at isocenter. The 80%–95% isodose contours measured with film dosimetry matched those predicted by the planning system to within 2 mm. The planning time for IMAT was slightly longer than for generating conventional 3D conformal plans. However, because of the need to create phantom plans for the dry run, the overall planning time was doubled. The average time a patient spent on the table for IMAT treatment was similar to conventional treatments. Conclusion: Initial results demonstrated the feasibility and accuracy of IMAT for achieving highly conformal dose distributions for different sites. If treatment plans can be optimized for IMAT cone beam delivery, we expect IMAT to achieve dose distributions that rival both slice-based and fixed-field IMRT techniques. The efficient delivery with existing linac and MLC makes IMAT a practical choice.

An inverse treatment planning system for Gamma Knife radiosurgery has been developed using nonlinear programming techniques. The system optimizes the shot sizes, locations, and weights for Gamma Knife treatments. In the patient's prescription, the user can specify both the maximum number of shots of radiation and a minimum isodose line that must surround the entire treatment volume. After satisfying all of the constraints included in the prescription, the system maximizes the conformity of the dose distribution. This automated approach to treatment planning has been applied retrospectively to a series of patient cases, and each optimized plan has been compared to the corresponding manual plan produced by an experienced user. The results demonstrate that this tool can often improve the tumor dose homogeneity while using fewer shots than were included in the original plan. Therefore, inverse treatment planning should improve both the quality and the efficiency of Gamma Knife treatments.

We report a dosimetric variation caused by a user-defined variable for the Leksell Gamma Knife planning system. Treatment plans of 31 randomly selected patients were studied retrospectively to determine the dosimetric effects in the dose prescription and computation as a result of dose matrix positioning in the Leksell Gamma Plan (LGP, Version 4.12). Phantom studies with ion chamber measurements were carried out to validate the accuracy of the computation results. An average overdose of 2% was found due to the variations in the user-defined dose matrix position for the studied cases. In the extreme, the overdose value was as high as 5% with an over-treatment time exceeding 2 min. The phantom measurements were found to agree with the LGP calculation within 0.5%. An adaptive method was developed and demonstrated in this study to eliminate such dosimetry variations.

This paper will present the results of an investigation into three iterative approaches to inverse treatment planning. These techniques have been examined in the hope of developing an optimization algorithm suitable for the large-scale problems that are encountered in tomotherapy. The three iterative techniques are referred to as the ratio method, iterative least-squares minimization and the maximum-likelihood estimator. Our results indicate that each of these techniques can serve as a useful tool in tomotherapy optimization. As compared with other mathematical programming techniques, the iterative approaches can reduce both memory demands and time requirements. In this paper, the results from small- and large-scale optimizations will be analysed. It will also be demonstrated that the flexibility of the iterative techniques can be greatly enhanced through the use of dose-volume histogram based penalty functions and/or through the use of weighting factors assigned to each region of the patient. Finally, results will be presented from an investigation into the stability of the iterative techniques.

Essential for the calculation of photon fluence distributions for intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) is the use of a suitable objective function. The objective function should reflect the clinical aims of tumor control and low side effect probability. Individual radiobiological parameters for patient organs are not yet available with sufficient accuracy. Some of the major drawbacks of some current optimization methods include an inability to converge to a solution for arbitrary input parameters, and/or a need for intensive user input in order to guide the optimization. In this work, a constrained optimization method was implemented and tested. It is closely related to the demanded clinical aims, avoiding the drawbacks mentioned above. In a prototype treatment planning system for IMRT, tumor control was guaranteed by setting a lower boundary for target dose. The aim of low complication is fulfilled by minimizing the dose to organs at risk. If only one type of tissue is involved, there is no absolute need for radiobiological parameters. For different organs, threshold dose, relative seriality of the organs or an upper dose limit could be set. All parameters, however, were optional, and could be omitted. Dose-volume constraints were not used, avoiding the possibility of local minima in the objective function. The approach was benchmarked through the simulation of both a head and neck and a lung case. A cylinder phantom with precalculated dose distributions of individual pencil beams was used. The dose to regions at risk could be significantly reduced using at least seven ports of beam incidence. Increasing the number of ports beyond seven produced only minor further gain. The relative seriality of organs was modeled through the use of an added exponent to the dose. This approach however increased calculation time significantly. The alternative of setting an upper limit is much faster and allows direct control of the maximum dose. Constrained optimization guarantees high tumor control probability, it is computationally more efficient than adding penalty terms to the objective function, and the input parameters are dose limits known in clinical practice.

Convolution/superposition software has been used to produce a library of photon pencil beam dose matrices. This library of pencil beams is designed to serve as a tool for both education and investigation in the field of radiotherapy optimization. The elegance of this pencil beam model stems from its cylindrical symmetry. Because of the symmetry, the dose distribution for a pencil beam from any arbitrary angle can be determined through a simple rotation of a pre-computed dose matrix. Rapid dose calculations can thus be performed while maintaining the accuracy of a convolution/superposition based dose computation. The pencil beam data sets have been made publicly available. It is hoped that the data sets will facilitate a comparison of a variety of optimization and delivery approaches. This paper will present a number of studies designed to demonstrate the usefulness of the pencil beam data sets. These studies include an examination of the extent to which a treatment plan can be improved through either an increase in the number of beam angles and/or a decrease in the collimator size. A few insights into the significance of heterogeneity corrections for treatment planning for intensity modulated radiotherapy will also be presented.

In the field of radiation therapy, much of the research is aimed at developing new and innovative techniques for treating cancer patients with radiation. In recent years, new treatment machines have been developed that provide a much greater degree of computer control than was available with the machines of previous generations. One innovation has been the development of an approach called "tomotherapy.'' Tomotherapy can be defined as computer-controlled rotational radiotherapy delivered using an intensity-modulated fan beam of radiation. The successful implementation of the new delivery techniques requires the development of a suitable approach for optimizing each patient's treatment plan. One of the challenges is to quantify optimality in radiation therapy. We have tested a variety of objective functions and constraints in pursuit of a formulation that performs well for a wide variety of disease sites. An additional challenge stems from the sizable amount of data and the large number of variables that are involved in each optimization. This paper presents several approaches to optimizing treatment plans in radiation therapy, and the advantages and disadvantages of a number of formulations are explored.

Purpose: In this study, we evaluated the performance of an Elekta linac in the delivery of gated radiotherapy. We examined whether the use of either a short gating window or a long beam hold impacts the accuracy of the delivery Methods: The performance of an Elekta linac in the delivery of gated radiotherapy was assessed using a 20cmX 20cm open field with the radiation delivered using a range of beam-on and beam-off time periods. Two SBRT plans were used to examine the accuracy of gated beam delivery for clinical treatment plans. For the SBRT cases, tests were performed for both free-breathing based gating and for gated delivery with a simulated breath-hold. A MatriXX 2D ion chamber array was used for data collection, and the gating accuracy was evaluated using gamma score. Results: For the 20cmX20cm open field, the gated beam delivery agreed closely with the non-gated delivery results. Discrepancies in the agreement, however, began to appear with a 5-to-1 ratio of the beam-off to beam-on. For these tight gating windows, each beam-on segment delivered a small number of monitor units. This finding was confirmed with dose distribution analysis from the delivery of the two VMAT plans where the gamma score(±1%,2%/1mm) showed passing rates in the range of 95% to 100% for gating windows of 25%, 38%, 50%, 63%, 75%, and 83%. Using a simulated sinusoidal breathing signal with a 4 second period, the gamma score of freebreathing gating and breath-hold gating deliveries were measured in the range of 95.7% to 100%. Conclusion: The results demonstrate that Elekta linacs can be used to accurately deliver respiratory gated treatments for both free-breathing and breath-hold patients. The accuracy of beams delivered in a gated delivery mode at low small MU proved higher than similar deliveries performed in a non-gated (manually interrupted) fashion.

Purpose: Clinical implementation of gated lung SBRT requires tools to verify the accuracy of the target positioning on a daily basis. This is a particular challenge on Elekta linacs where the XVI imaging system does not interface directly to any commercial gating solution. In this study, we used the Elekta's intra-fractional imaging functionality to perform the pretreatment CBCT verifications and evaluated both the image quality and gating accuracy. Methods: To use intrafraction imaging tools for pretreatment verifications, we planned a 360-degree arc with 1mmx5mm MLC opening. This beam was designed to drive the gantry during the gated CBCT data collection. A Catphan phantom was used to evaluate the image quality for the intra-fractional CBCT. A CIRS lung phantom with a 3cm sphereinsert and a moving chest plate were programmed with a simulated breathhold breathing pattern was used to check the gating accuracy. A C-Rad CatalystHD surface mapping system was used to provide the gating signal. Results: The total delivery time of the arc was 90 seconds. The uniformity and low contrast resolution for the intra-fractional CBCT was 1.5% and 3.6%, respectively. The values for the regular CBCT were 1.7% and 2.5%, respectively. The spatial resolution was 7 line-pairs/cm and the 3D spatial integrity was less than 1mm for the intra-fractional CBCT. The gated CBCT clearly demonstrated the accuracy of the gating image acquisition. Conclusion: The intra-fraction CBCT capabilities on an Elekta linac can be used to acquire pre-treatment gated images to verify the accuracy patient positioning. This imaging capability should provide for accurate patient alignments for the delivery of lung SBRT. This research was partially supported by Elekta

The U.S. Coast Guard has been developing a 47′ high-speed, heavy weather motor lifeboat, the 47 MLB, to replace the aging 44′ motor lifeboats. The 47 MLB is designed to be self-righting and operate in up to 20′ breaking waves. The prototype 47 MLB has been in service for four years, and five pre-production boats have been built by Textron Marine Systems in New Orleans, La. If the pre-production boats prove to be successful, plans call for 100 boats to be built in the production run. One of the primary goals in developing a new motor lifeboat was to make major improvements with regard to crew safety, comfort, and efficiency. These human engineering requirements have affected almost every stage of the design, and have been the subject of considerable engineering effort. Throughout the development, a logical human engineering program has been followed. This program will continue through the pre-production evaluation and into the production craft development.

Intensity modulated arc therapy (IMAT) is a radiation therapy delivery technique that combines the efficiency of arc based delivery with the dose painting capabilities of intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). A key challenge in developing robust inverse planning solutions for IMAT is the need to account for the connectivity of the beam shapes as the gantry rotates from one beam angle to the next. To overcome this challenge, inverse planning solutions typically impose a leaf motion constraint that defines the maximum distance a multileaf collimator (MLC) leaf can travel between adjacent control points. The leaf motion constraint ensures the deliverability of the optimized plan, but it also impacts the plan quality, the delivery accuracy, and the delivery efficiency. In this work, the authors have studied leaf motion constraints in detail and have developed recommendations for optimizing the balance between plan quality and delivery efficiency.Two steps were used to generate optimized IMAT treatment plans. The first was the direct machine parameter optimization (DMPO) inverse planning module in the Pinnacle(3) planning system. Then, a home-grown arc sequencer was applied to convert the optimized intensity maps into deliverable IMAT arcs. IMAT leaf motion constraints were imposed using limits of between 1 and 30 mm∕deg. Dose distributions were calculated using the convolution∕superposition algorithm in the Pinnacle(3) planning system. The IMAT plan dose calculation accuracy was examined using a finer sampling calculation and the quality assurance verification. All plans were delivered on an Elekta Synergy with an 80-leaf MLC and were verified using an IBA MatriXX 2D ion chamber array inserted in a MultiCube solid water phantom.The use of a more restrictive leaf motion constraint (less than 1-2 mm∕deg) results in inferior plan quality. A less restrictive leaf motion constraint (greater than 5 mm∕deg) results in improved plan quality but can lead to less accurate dose distribution as evidenced by increasing discrepancies between the planned and the delivered doses. For example, the results from our patient-specific quality assurance measurements demonstrated that the average gamma analysis passing rate decreased from 98% to 80% when the allowable leaf motion increased from 3 to 20 mm∕deg. Larger leaf motion constraints also led to longer treatment delivery times (2 to 4 folds) due to the additional MLC leaf motion.Leaf motion constraints significantly impact IMAT plans in terms of plan quality, delivery accuracy, and delivery efficiency with the impact magnified for more complex cases. Our studies indicate that a leaf motion constraint of 2 to 3 mm∕deg of gantry rotation can provide an optimal balance between plan quality, delivery accuracy, and efficiency.

Intensity-modulated arc therapy (IMAT) is a rotational approach to radiation therapy delivered on a conventional linear accelerator using a conventional multileaf collimator. There are 2 key advantages of IMAT. First, the rotational nature of the delivery provides great flexibility in shaping each dose distribution. As a result, IMAT can provide dosimetric advantages relative to fixed-field intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). The second advantage is the highly efficient nature of the delivery. For centers with an active IMRT program, the clinical implementation of IMAT should be relatively straightforward. For clinical implementation of IMAT, it is important to fully characterize the accuracy of the dose model used, and the performance of the quality assurance equipment.

Intensity-modulated arc therapy (IMAT) is a rotational IMRT technique. It uses a set of overlapping or nonoverlapping arcs to create a prescribed dose distribution. Despite its numerous advantages, IMAT has not gained widespread clinical applications. This is mainly due to the lack of an effective IMAT leaf-sequencing algorithm that can convert the optimized intensity patterns for all beam directions into IMAT treatment arcs. To address this problem, we have developed an IMAT leaf-sequencing algorithm and software using graph algorithms in computer science. The input to our leaf-sequencing software includes (1) a set of (continuous) intensity patterns optimized by a treatment planning system at a sequence of equally spaced beam angles (typically 10 degrees apart), (2) a maximum leaf motion constraint, and (3) the number of desired arcs, k. The output is a set of treatment arcs that best approximates the set of optimized intensity patterns at all beam angles with guaranteed smooth delivery without violating the maximum leaf motion constraint. The new algorithm consists of the following key steps. First, the optimized intensity patterns are segmented into intensity profiles that are aligned with individual MLC leaf pairs. Then each intensity profile is segmented into k MLC leaf openings using a k-link shortest path algorithm. The leaf openings for all beam angles are subsequently connected together to form 1D IMAT arcs under the maximum leaf motion constraint using a shortest path algorithm. Finally, the 1D IMAT arcs are combined to form IMAT treatment arcs of MLC apertures. The performance of the implemented leaf-sequencing software has been tested for four treatment sites (prostate, breast, head and neck, and lung). In all cases, our leaf-sequencing algorithm produces efficient and highly conformal IMAT plans that rival their counterpart, the tomotherapy plans, and significantly improve the IMRT plans. Algorithm execution times ranging from a few seconds to 2 min are observed on a laptop computer equipped with a 2.0 GHz Pentium M processor.

We have studied the application of direct aperture optimization (DAO) as an inverse planning tool for breast IMRT. Additionally, we have analysed the impact of respiratory motion on the quality of the delivered dose distribution. From this analysis, we have developed guidelines for balancing the desire for a high-quality optimized plan with the need to create a plan that will not degrade significantly in the presence of respiratory motion. For a DAO optimized breast IMRT plan, the tangential fields incorporate a flash field to cover the range of respiratory motion. The inverse planning algorithm then optimizes the shapes and weights of additional segments that are delivered in combination with the open fields. IMRT plans were generated using DAO with the relative weights of the open segments varied from 0% to 95%. To assess the impact of breathing motion, the dose distribution for the optimized IMRT plan was recalculated with the isocentre sampled from a predefined distribution in a Monte Carlo convolution/superposition dose engine with the breast simulated as a rigid object. The motion amplitudes applied in this study ranged from 0.5 to 2.0 cm. For a range of weighting levels assigned to the open field, comparisons were made between the static plans and the plans recalculated with motion. For the static plans, we found that uniform dose distributions could be generated with relative weights for the open segments equal to and below 80% and unacceptable levels of underdosage were observed with the weights larger than 80%. When simulated breathing motion was incorporated into the dose calculation, we observed a loss in dose uniformity as the weight of the open field was decreased to below 65%. More quantitatively, for each 1% decrease in the weight, the per cent volume of the target covered by at least 95% of the prescribed dose decreased by approximately 0.10% and 0.16% for motion amplitudes equal to 1.5 cm and 2.0 cm, respectively. When taking into account the motion effects, the most uniform and conformal dose distributions were achieved when the open segment weights were in the range of 65-80%. Within this range, high-quality IMRT plans were produced for each case. The study demonstrates that DAO with tangential fields provides a robust and efficient technique for breast IMRT planning and delivery when the open segment weight is selected between 65% and 80%.

Purpose Intensity-modulated arc therapy (IMAT) is an arc-based approach to intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) that can be delivered on a conventional linear accelerator using a conventional multileaf collimator. In a previous work, we demonstrated that our arc-sequencing algorithm can produce highly conformal IMAT plans. Through plan comparisons, we explored the ability of IMAT to serve as an alternative to helical tomotherapy. Methods and Materials The IMAT plans were created for 10 patients previously treated with helical tomotherapy. Treatment plan comparisons, according to the target dose coverage and critical structure sparing, were performed to determine whether similar plan quality could be achieved using IMAT. Results In 8 of 10 patient cases, IMAT was able to provide plan quality comparable to that of helical tomotherapy. In 2 of these 8 cases, the use of non-axial coplanar or non-coplanar arcs in IMAT planning led to significant improvements in normal tissue sparing. The remaining 2 cases posed particular dosimetric challenges. In 1 case, the target was immediately adjacent to a spinal cord that had received previous irradiation. The second case involved multiple target volumes and multiple prescription levels. Both IMAT and tomotherapy were able to produce clinically acceptable plans. Tomotherapy, however, provided a more uniform target dose and improved critical structure sparing. Conclusions For most cases, IMAT can provide plan qualities comparable to that of helical tomotherapy. For some intracranial tumors, IMAT's ability to deliver non-coplanar arcs led to significant dosimetric improvements. Helical tomotherapy, however, can provide improved dosimetric results in the most complex cases.

A new leaf-sequencing approach has been developed that is designed to reduce the number of required beam segments for step-and-shoot intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). This approach to leaf sequencing is called continuous-intensity-map-optimization (CIMO). Using a simulated annealing algorithm, CIMO seeks to minimize differences between the optimized and sequenced intensity maps. Two distinguishing features of the CIMO algorithm are (1) CIMO does not require that each optimized intensity map be clustered into discrete levels and (2) CIMO is not rule-based but rather simultaneously optimizes both the aperture shapes and weights. To test the CIMO algorithm, ten IMRT patient cases were selected (four head-and-neck, two pancreas, two prostate, one brain, and one pelvis). For each case, the optimized intensity maps were extracted from the Pinnacle3 treatment planning system. The CIMO algorithm was applied, and the optimized aperture shapes and weights were loaded back into Pinnacle. A final dose calculation was performed using Pinnacle's convolution/superposition based dose calculation. On average, the CIMO algorithm provided a 54% reduction in the number of beam segments as compared with Pinnacle's leaf sequencer. The plans sequenced using the CIMO algorithm also provided improved target dose uniformity and a reduced discrepancy between the optimized and sequenced intensity maps. For ten clinical intensity maps, comparisons were performed between the CIMO algorithm and the power-of-two reduction algorithm of Xia and Verhey [Med. Phys. 25(8), 1424-1434 (1998)]. When the constraints of a Varian Millennium multileaf collimator were applied, the CIMO algorithm resulted in a 26% reduction in the number of segments. For an Elekta multileaf collimator, the CIMO algorithm resulted in a 67% reduction in the number of segments. An average leaf sequencing time of less than one minute per beam was observed.

This chapter describes a suite of optimization tools for radiation treatment planning within the Matlab programming environment. The data included with these tools was computed for real patient cases using a Monte Carlo dose engine. The formulation of a series of optimization models is described that utilizes this data within a modeling system. Furthermore, visualization techniques are provided that assist in validating the quality of each solution. The versatility and utility of the tools are shown using a sequence of optimization techniques designed to generate a practical solution. These tools and the associated data are available for download from www.cs.wisc.edu/~ferris/3dcrt.

We have designed a toolbox that provides an environment for testing radiotherapy optimization techniques, objective functions, and constraints. A set of three-dimensional (3D) pencil beam dose distributions have been computed for a cylindrical phantom. The 6 MV pencil beams were computed using a superposition-based dose engine commissioned for an Elekta SL20 linear accelerator. Due to the cylindrical symmetry of the phantom, the pencil beam dose distributions for any arbitrary beam angle can be determined by simply rotating the pencil beam data sets. Thus, the full accuracy is maintained without the need for additional dose calculations or large data storage requirements. In addition to the pencil beam data sets, tools are included for (1) rotating the pencil beams, (2) calculating the beam's eye view, (3) drawing structures, (4) writing the pencil beam dose data out to the optimizer, and (5) visualizing the optimized results. The pencil beam data sets and the corresponding tools are available for download at http://medschool.umaryland.edu/departments/radiationoncology/pencilbeam/. With this toolbox, researchers will have the ability to rapidly test new optimization techniques and formulations for intensity modulated radiation therapy and 3D conformal radiotherapy.