Patient selection for proton therapy using Normal Tissue Complication Probability with deep learning dose prediction for oropharyngeal cancer.

Background: In cancer care, determining the most beneficial treatment technique is a key decision affecting the patient's survival and quality of life. Patient selection for proton therapy (PT) over conventional radiotherapy (XT) currently entails comparing manually generated treatment plans, which requires time and expertise.

Purpose: We developed an automatic and fast tool, AI-PROTIPP (Artificial Intelligence Predictive Radiation Oncology Treatment Indication to Photons/Protons), that assesses quantitatively the benefits of each therapeutic option.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning for medical imaging: A technology review.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has recently become a very popular buzzword, as a consequence of disruptive technical advances and impressive experimental results, notably in the field of image analysis and processing. In medicine, specialties where images are central, like radiology, pathology or oncology, have seized the opportunity and considerable efforts in research and development have been deployed to transfer the potential of AI to clinical applications. With AI becoming a more mainstream tool for typical medical imaging analysis tasks, such as diagnosis, segmentation, or classification, the key for a safe and efficient use of clinical AI applications relies, in part, on informed practitioners.

Deep learning dose prediction for IMRT of esophageal cancer: The effect of data quality and quantity on model performance.

Purpose: To investigate the effect of data quality and quantity on the performance of deep learning (DL) models, for dose prediction of intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) of esophageal cancer.

Material And Methods: Two databases were used: a variable database (VarDB) with 56 clinical cases extracted retrospectively, including user-dependent variability in delineation and planning, different machines and beam configurations; and a homogenized database (HomDB), created to reduce this variability by re-contouring and re-planning all patients with a fixed class-solution protocol. Experiment 1 analysed the user-dependent variability, using 26 patients planned with the same machine and beam setup (E26-VarDB versus E26-HomDB).

Improvement of kilovoltage intrafraction monitoring accuracy through gantry angles selection.

Kilovoltage intrafraction monitoring (KIM) is a method allowing to precisely infer the tumour trajectory based on cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) 2D-projections. However, its accuracy is deteriorated in the case of highly mobile tumours involving hysteresis. A first adaptation of KIM consisting of a prior amplitude based binning step has been developed in order to minimize the errors of the original model (phase-KIM).

Development and accuracy evaluation of a single-camera intra-bore surface scanning system for radiotherapy in an O-ring linac.

Background And Purpose: Current commercial surface scanning systems are not able to monitor patients during radiotherapy fractions in closed-bore linacs during adaptive workflows. In this work a surface scanning system for monitoring in an O-ring linac is proposed.

Methods And Materials: A depth camera was mounted at the backend of the bore.

Validation and IMRT/VMAT delivery quality of a preconfigured fast-rotating O-ring linac system.

Purpose: A fast-rotating O-ring dedicated intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT)/volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) delivery system, the Halcyon, is delivered by default with a fully preconfigured photon beam model in the treatment planning system (TPS). This work reports on the validation and achieved IMRT/VMAT delivery quality on the system.

Methods: Acceptance testing followed the vendor's installation product acceptance and was supplemented with mechanical QA.

Production of patient-specific electron beam aperture cut-outs using a low-cost, multi-purpose 3D printer.

Electron beam collimators for non-standard field sizes and shapes are typically fabricated using Styrofoam molds to cast the aperture cut-out. These molds are often produced using a dedicated foam cutter, which may be expensive and only serves a single purpose. An increasing number of radiotherapy departments, however, has a 3D printer on-site, to create a wide range of custom-made treatment auxiliaries, such as bolus and dosimetry phantoms.

Volumetric modulated arc therapy of head-and-neck cancer on a fast-rotating O-ring linac: Plan quality and delivery time comparison with a C-arm linac.

Background And Purpose: Linac improvements in gantry speed, leaf speed and dose rate may increase the time-efficiency of volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) delivery. The plan quality achievable with faster VMAT however remains to be investigated. In this study, a fast-rotating O-ring linac with fast-moving leaves is compared with a C-arm linac in terms of plan quality and delivery time for VMAT of head-and-neck cancer (HNC).

Patient-specific bolus for range shifter air gap reduction in intensity-modulated proton therapy of head-and-neck cancer studied with Monte Carlo based plan optimization.

Background & Purpose: Intensity-modulated proton therapy (IMPT) of superficial lesions requires pre-absorbing range shifter (RS) to deliver the more shallow spots. RS air gap minimization is important to avoid spot size degradation, but remains challenging in complex geometries such as in head-and-neck cancer (HNC). In this study, clinical endpoints were investigated for patient-specific bolus and for conventional RS solutions, making use of a Monte Carlo (MC) dose engine for IMPT optimization.

Towards 3D printed multifunctional immobilization for proton therapy: Initial materials characterization.

Purpose: 3D printing technology is investigated for the purpose of patient immobilization during proton therapy. It potentially enables a merge of patient immobilization, bolus range shifting, and other functions into one single patient-specific structure. In this first step, a set of 3D printed materials is characterized in detail, in terms of structural and radiological properties, elemental composition, directional dependence, and structural changes induced by radiation damage.