Incorporating Treatment Time into Butterfly Optimization to Reduce Total Treatment Time for Vaginal Cylinder Brachytherapy.

Purpose For patient comfort and safety, irradiation times should be kept at a minimum while maintaining high treatment quality. In this study of high dose rate (HDR) therapy with a vaginal cylinder, we used the butterfly optimization algorithm (BOA) to simultaneously optimize individual dwell times for precise dose conformity and for the reduction of total dwell time. Material and methods BOA is a population-based, meta-heuristic algorithm that averts local minima by conducting intensive local and global searching based on switching probability.

Tumour-specific amplitude-modulated radiofrequency electromagnetic fields induce differentiation of hepatocellular carcinoma via targeting Ca3.2 T-type voltage-gated calcium channels and Ca influx.

Background: Administration of amplitude modulated 27·12 MHz radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (AM RF EMF) by means of a spoon-shaped applicator placed on the patient's tongue is a newly approved treatment for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The mechanism of action of tumour-specific AM RF EMF is largely unknown.

Methods: Whole body and organ-specific human dosimetry analyses were performed.

Optical surface guidance for submillimeter monitoring of patient position during frameless stereotactic radiotherapy.

Purpose: To evaluate the accuracy of monitoring intrafraction motion during stereotactic radiotherapy with the optical surface monitoring system. Prior studies showing a false increase in the magnitude of translational offsets at non-coplanar couch positions prompted the vendor to implement software changes. This study evaluated two software improvements intended to address false offsets.

Stereotactic radiosurgery with MLC-defined arcs: Verification of dosimetry, spatial accuracy, and end-to-end tests.

Purpose: To measure dosimetric and spatial accuracy of stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) delivered to targets as small as the trigeminal nerve (TN) using a standard external beam treatment planning system (TPS) and multileaf collimator-(MLC) equipped linear accelerator without cones or other special attachments or modifications.

Methods: Dosimetric performance was assessed by comparing computed dose distributions to film measurements. Comparisons included the γ-index, beam profiles, isodose lines, maximum dose, and spatial accuracy.

The virtual cone: A novel technique to generate spherical dose distributions using a multileaf collimator and standardized control-point sequence for small target radiation surgery.

Purpose: The study aimed to develop and demonstrate a standardized linear accelerator multileaf collimator-based method of delivering small, spherical dose distributions suitable for radiosurgical treatment of small targets such as the trigeminal nerve.

Methods And Materials: The virtual cone is composed of a multileaf collimator-defined field with the central 2 leaves set to a small gap. For 5 table positions, clockwise and counter-clockwise arcs were used with collimator angles of 45 and 135 degrees, respectively.