Publications by authors named "Kazuhiro Arai"

This study aimed to evaluate the performance for answering the Japanese medical physicist examination and providing the benchmark of knowledge about medical physics in language-generative AI with large language model. We used questions from Japan's 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 medical physicist board examinations, which covered various question types, including multiple-choice questions, and mainly focused on general medicine and medical physics. ChatGPT-3.

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Measurement-based verification is impossible for the patient-specific quality assurance (QA) of online adaptive magnetic resonance imaging-guided radiotherapy (oMRgRT) because the patient remains on the couch throughout the session. We assessed a deep learning (DL) system for oMRgRT to predict the gamma passing rate (GPR). This study collected 125 verification plans [reference plan (RP), 100; adapted plan (AP), 25] from patients with prostate cancer treated using Elekta Unity.

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Background And Objective: In the field of radiation therapy, image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) technology has been gradually improving and highly accurate radiation treatment has been possible. Research on IGRT using 1.5 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) began in 1999, and a radiation therapy device called 1.

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This study aims to evaluate the dosimetric accuracy of a deep learning (DL)-based deliverable volumetric arc radiation therapy (VMAT) plan generated using DL-based automated planning assistant system (AIVOT, prototype version) for patients with prostate cancer. The VMAT data (cliDose) of 68 patients with prostate cancer treated with VMAT treatment (70-74 Gy/28-37 fr) at our hospital were used (n = 55 for training and n = 13 for testing). First, a HD-U-net-based 3D dose prediction model implemented in AIVOT was customized using the VMAT data.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The Unity magnetic resonance linear accelerator (MRL) allows for real-time adjustments in radiation treatment plans using adaptive radiotherapy, which is particularly beneficial for patients undergoing treatment for prostate cancer.
  • - A study evaluated the quality and reproducibility of MRgART plans in ten prostate cancer patients, finding that using more beams generally improved plan quality, but too many could reduce the consistency of meeting dose constraints.
  • - The results suggest that using five or fewer beams is not recommended for reliable treatment plans, and a careful balance of beam and segment numbers is essential for optimizing treatment quality and efficiency with the Unity MRL.
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This study evaluated accuracy of deformable image registration (DIR) with twelve parameter settings for thoracic images. We used peak-inhale and peak-exhale images for ten patients provided by DIR-lab. We used a prototype version of iCView software (ITEM Corporation) with DIR to perform intensity, structure, and hybrid-based DIR with the twelve parameter settings.

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We aimed to evaluate dosimetric effects of ipsilateral shoulder position variations (ISPVs) in sitting-positioned boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) for lower neck tumor. The ISPVs were simulated using deformed shoulder images that can simulate arbitrary shape. The dose-volume parameters for the tumor in the rotated shoulder plans considerably varied compared with that for the mucosa.

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The irradiation field of boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) consists of multiple dose components including thermal, epithermal and fast neutron, and gamma. The objective of this work was to establish a methodology of dosimetric quality assurance (QA), using the most standard and reliable measurement methods, and to determine tolerance level for each QA measurement for a commercially available accelerator-based BNCT system. In order to establish a system of dosimetric QA suitable for BNCT, the following steps were taken.

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Functional lung avoidance during radiotherapy can help reduce pulmonary toxicity. This study assessed the potential impact of four-dimensional computed tomography (4DCT)-ventilation imaging-guided proton radiotherapy (PT) on stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) by comparing it with three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT) and volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT), which employ photon beams. Thirteen lung cancer patients who received SBRT with 3D-CRT were included in the study.

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This study aimed to evaluate the influence of change in respiratory motion on matchline (ML) and reduction of the effect by increasing ML levels of field matching technique in passive scattering proton therapy for esophageal cancer. To evaluate the influence of respiratory motion in terms of stability, we measured relative dose around ML using a respiratory motion phantom. The relative error was -0.

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Installation of an accelerator-based boron neutron capture therapy (AB-BNCT) system was started in April 2014 at the Southern Tohoku BNCT Research Center (STBRC), and clinical trials began in January 2016. There are two treatment rooms, which have same specifications, and the beam quality equivalency was confirmed both rooms. Here, we describe the design and construction of the first hospital-based AB-BNCT facility in the world with multiple treatment rooms.

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The use of a multi-layer ionization chamber, Zebra, in patient-specific quality assurance (QA) for proton depth dose distributions in a single-ring wobbling method is investigated. The depth dose distributions measured using Zebra are compared with those calculated using the treatment planning system (TPS), XiO-M, and measured using an ionization chamber with a motorized water phantom system. Because the TPS only provides point doses, the average doses are calculated using in-house software.

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Objective: Maxillary sinus carcinomas are anatomically situated next to many organs at risk (OARs), and anatomical change is often observed during radiotherapy. We analyzed the effect of anatomical change on dose distribution of passive scattering proton therapy (PSPT) and volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) for 20 patients.

Methods: The first plans were generated based on the first CT images.

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Deformable image registration (DIR) is important in dose accumulation. Currently, the impact of DIR-algorithm-associated uncertainties in proton therapy is unclear. Here, we quantify the effect of DIR uncertainties on prostate passive-scattering proton therapy (PSPT) dose accumulation.

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The aim of this study was to confirm On-Board Imager cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) using the histogram-matching algorithm as a useful method for proton dose calculation. We studied one head and neck phantom, one pelvic phantom, and ten patients with head and neck cancer treated using intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and proton beam therapy. We modified Hounsfield unit (HU) values of CBCT and generated two modified CBCTs (mCBCT-RR, mCBCT-DIR) using the histogram-matching algorithm: modified CBCT with rigid registration (mCBCT-RR) and that with deformable image registration (mCBCT-DIR).

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study aimed to evaluate the accuracy of commercially available deformable image registration (DIR) software for thoracic images, utilizing 4D CT scans from 10 cancer patients and 300 landmark points for comparison.
  • - Data was collected from 11 institutions using different DIR software, revealing average registration errors that varied notably between software types, with RayStation, MIM Software, and Velocity showing ranges of 1.26-6.20 mm in 3D error.
  • - The findings indicate that DIR accuracy differs among institutions due to software and procedural variations, providing valuable insights for future clinical trials and clinical applications of DIR technology.
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Purpose: The purpose of this study was to estimate the accuracy of the dose calculation of On-Board Imager (Varian, Palo Alto, CA) cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) with deformable image registration (DIR), using the multilevel-threshold (MLT) algorithm and histogram matching (HM) algorithm in pelvic radiation therapy.

Methods And Materials: One pelvis phantom and 10 patients with prostate cancer treated with intensity modulated radiation therapy were studied. To minimize the effect of organ deformation and different Hounsfield unit values between planning CT (PCT) and CBCT, we modified CBCT (mCBCT) with DIR by using the MLT (mCBCT(MLT)) and HM (mCBCT(HM)) algorithms.

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