Publications by authors named "W Volken"
Background: Non-coplanarity and mixed beam modality could be combined to further enhance dosimetric treatment plan quality. We introduce dynamic mixed beam arc therapy (DYMBARC) as an innovative technique that combines non-coplanar photon and electron arcs, dynamic gantry and collimator rotations, and intensity modulation with photon multileaf collimator (MLC). However, finding favorable beam directions for DYMBARC is challenging due to the large solution space, machine component constraints, and optimization parameters, posing a highly non-convex optimization problem.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Dose calculation in radiotherapy aims to accurately estimate and assess the dose distribution of a treatment plan. Monte Carlo (MC) dose calculation is considered the gold standard owing to its ability to accurately simulate particle transport in inhomogeneous media. However, uncertainties such as the patient's dynamically deforming anatomy can still lead to differences between the delivered and planned dose distribution.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- Non-isocentric dynamic trajectory radiotherapy (DTRT) is a new way to target radiation therapy that uses special movements of the machine to hit the tumor from different angles without being stuck in one spot.
- Researchers are creating a technique that helps decide the best path for the radiation beams, making sure they avoid healthy organs while still reaching the tumor effectively.
- Comparisons of different treatment plans show that this new method can give better radiation distribution to the tumor and lower the radiation dose to nearby healthy organs.
Dynamic trajectory radiotherapy (DTRT) and dynamic mixed-beam arc therapy (DYMBARC) exploit non-coplanarity and, for DYMBARC, simultaneously optimized photon and electron beams. Margin concepts to account for set-up uncertainties during delivery are ill-defined for electron fields. We develop robust optimization for DTRT&DYMBARC and compare dosimetric plan quality and robustness for both techniques and both optimization strategies for four cases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Purpose: Dynamic trajectory radiotherapy (DTRT) has been shown to improve healthy tissue sparing compared to volumetric arc therapy (VMAT). This study aimed to assess and compare the robustness of DTRT and VMAT treatment-plans for head and neck (H&N) cancer to patient-setup (PS) and machine-positioning uncertainties.
Materials And Methods: The robustness of DTRT and VMAT plans previously created for 46 H&N cases, prescribed 50-70 Gy to 95 % of the planning-target-volume, was assessed.