Publications by authors named "Fan-Chi Frances Su"
Background: Surface-guided radiation therapy (SGRT) systems have been widely installed and utilized on linear accelerators. However, the use of SGRT with proton therapy is still a newly developing field, and published reports are currently very limited.
Purpose: To assess the clinical application and alignment agreement of SGRT with CT-on-rails (CTOR) and kV-2D image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) for breast treatment using proton therapy.
Purpose: To evaluate and characterize the overall clinical functionality and workflow of the newly released Varian Identify system (version 2.3).
Methods: Three technologies included in the Varian Identify system were evaluated: patient biometric authentication, treatment accessory device identification, and surface-guided radiation therapy (SGRT) function.
Background: It has been shown that a significant reduction of mean heart dose and left anterior descending artery (LAD) dose can be achieved through the use of DIBH for left breast radiation therapy. Surface-guided DIBH has been widely adopted during the last decade, and there are mainly three commercially available SGRT systems. The reports of the performance of a newly released SGRT system for DIBH application are currently very limited.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: To characterize potential dose to the fetus for all modes of delivery (dynamic adaptive aperture, static adaptive aperture, and no adaptive aperture) for the Mevion S250i Proton Therapy System with HYPERSCAN and compare the findings with those of other available proton systems.
Materials And Methods: Fetal dose measurements were performed for all three modes of dose delivery on the Mevion S250i Proton therapy system with HYPERSCAN (static aperture, dynamic aperture and uncollimated). Standard treatment plans were created in RayStation for a left-sided brain lesion treated with a vertex field, a left lateral field, and a posterior field.
Purpose: In this study, patient setup accuracy was compared between surface guidance and tattoo markers for radiation therapy treatment sites of the thorax, abdomen and pelvis.
Methods And Materials: A total of 608 setups performed on 59 patients using both surface-guided and tattoo-based patient setups were analyzed. During treatment setup, patients were aligned to room lasers using their tattoos, and then the six-degree-of-freedom (6DOF) surface-guided offsets were calculated and recorded using AlignRT system.
Background: A post-operative MRI (MRI) performed within 72 h is routinely used for radiation treatment planning in glioblastoma (GBM) patients, with radiotherapy starting about 4-6 weeks after surgery. Some patients undergo an additional pre-radiotherapy MRI (MRI) about 2-6 weeks after surgery. We sought to analyze the incidence of rapid early progression (REP) between surgery and initiation of radiotherapy seen on MRI and the impact on radiation target volumes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: This work investigated effects of implementing the Delta Discover diode transmission detector into the clinical workflow.
Methods: PDD and profile scans were completed with and without the Discover for a number of photon beam energies. Transmission factors were determined for all beam energies and included in Eclipse TPS to account for the attenuation of the Discover.
Purpose: To evaluate the impact of Varian Identify, a novel combined radiofrequency identification, biometric and surface-matching technology, on its potential for patient safety and prevention of radiation therapy treatment deviations.
Methods And Materials: One hundred eight radiation therapy treatment deviation reports at our facility over the past 8 years were analyzed. Three major categories were defined based on the time point of occurrence: physician order deviations (19.
Purpose: To apply failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) to generate an effective and efficient initial physics plan checklist.
Methods: A team of physicists, dosimetrists, and therapists was setup to reconstruct the workflow processes involved in the generation of a treatment plan beginning from simulation. The team then identified possible failure modes in each of the processes.
Purpose: To utilize failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) to effectively direct the transition from the Elekta microSelectron to the Flexitron high dose-rate afterloader system.
Materials And Methods: Our FMEA was performed in two stages. In the first stage, the lead brachytherapy physicists used FMEA to guide the brainstorming sessions and to identify vulnerabilities during this transition.
Purpose: To propose a workflow that uses ultrasound (US)-measured skin-balloon distances and virtual structure creations in the treatment planning system to evaluate the maximum skin dose for patients treated with Contura Multi-Lumen Balloon applicators.
Methods And Materials: Twenty-three patients were analyzed in this study. CT and US were used to investigate the interfractional skin-balloon distance variations.