Program Information
Empirical Beam Angle Optimization for Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy in Lung Patients
S Pella1 , B Doozan2*, (1) South Florida Radiation Oncology, Boca Raton, FL, (2) Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL
Presentations
MO-B-BRD-12 (Monday, March 9, 2015) 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM Room: Ballroom D
Purpose: Empirical methods of beam angle optimization (BAO) are tested against the BAO that is currently employed in Eclipse treatment planning software. Creating a better BAO can decrease the amount of time a dosimetrist spends on developing a treatment plan, improve the treatment quality, and enhance the tools an inexperienced dosimetrist can use to develop planning techniques.
Methods: The methods used currently to create the treatment plans involve limited use of the BAO that is available, due to the poor results that have been shown. Using empirical data created by experienced dosimetrists from 69 patients in lung cancer treatment, the most frequently used gantry angles were applied to four different regions in each lung to gather an optimal set of fields that could be used to treat future lung cancer patients. This method, given the moniker FAU BAO is compared in 7 plans created with Eclipse BAO choosing to use 5 of a possible 9 beams as well as forcing the Eclipse optimization to create a minimum of 9 fields.
Results: The results show that the conformality index improved by 30%, the conformation number improved by 12% and the organs at risk (OAR) were overall protected to produce fewer nonstochastic effects from the radiation treatment with FAU BAO over the Eclipse BAO.
Conclusion: A beam optimization method that uses the empirical method is superior to the one provided by the planning system. The planning time is reduced by 35% and the dosimetric results and significantly better. Using this system the dosimetrists can see an improvement in their plan quality and the time they spend in creating it.
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