Optimizing Trauma Systems: A Geospatial Analysis of the Victorian State Trauma System.

Objective: The aim of this study was to develop a data-driven approach to assessing the influence of trauma system parameters and optimizing the configuration of the Victorian State Trauma System (VSTS).

Summary Background Data: Regionalized trauma systems have been shown to reduce the risk of mortality and improve patient function and health-related quality of life. However, major trauma case numbers are rapidly increasing and there is a need to evolve the configuration of trauma systems.

Supporting the Problem-Solving Loop: Designing Highly Interactive Optimisation Systems.

Efficient optimisation algorithms have become important tools for finding high-quality solutions to hard, real-world problems such as production scheduling, timetabling, or vehicle routing. These algorithms are typically "black boxes" that work on mathematical models of the problem to solve. However, many problems are difficult to fully specify, and require a "human in the loop" who collaborates with the algorithm by refining the model and guiding the search to produce acceptable solutions.

What do Constraint Programming Users Want to See? Exploring the Role of Visualisation in Profiling of Models and Search.

Constraint programming allows difficult combinatorial problems to be modelled declaratively and solved automatically. Advances in solver technologies over recent years have allowed the successful use of constraint programming in many application areas. However, when a particular solver's search for a solution takes too long, the complexity of the constraint program execution hinders the programmer's ability to profile that search and understand how it relates to their model.

A radiobiology-based inverse treatment planning method for optimisation of permanent l-125 prostate implants in focal brachytherapy.

Treatment plans for ten patients, initially treated with a conventional approach to low dose-rate brachytherapy (LDR, 145 Gy to entire prostate), were compared with plans for the same patients created with an inverse-optimisation planning process utilising a biologically-based objective. The 'biological optimisation' considered a non-uniform distribution of tumour cell density through the prostate based on known and expected locations of the tumour. Using dose planning-objectives derived from our previous biological-model validation study, the volume of the urethra receiving 125% of the conventional prescription (145 Gy) was reduced from a median value of 64% to less than 8% whilst maintaining high values of TCP.