Applications of reactor physics methods to radiotherapy planning
- Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States)
The general optimization of a radiotherapy plan is to maximize the dose in the malignant tissue and minimize it in the healthy. This implies the formidable task of optimizing a functional of the radiation field described by the seven variables of space, energy, direction, and time. Different names are used in the medical profession to refer to the problem: two- or three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy, in general; tomotherapy, for a beam that moves around the patient in a spiral trajectory; stereotactic radiosurgery, for a one-time irradiation of a brain tumor; and stereotactic radiotherapy, for a fractioned irradiation of a brain tumor. The problem, in a restrictive sense with fewer variables, is not new. Currently, the selection of the best set of beams for a particular patient is determined by an iterative procedure that includes in each step the calculation of a three-dimensional dose for each beam configuration. Each step of the iteration generally relies on semiempirical methods that are fast but approximately correct.
- OSTI ID:
- 552575
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-971125-; ISSN 0003-018X; TRN: 98:001776
- Journal Information:
- Transactions of the American Nuclear Society, Vol. 77; Conference: 1997 American Nuclear Society (ANS) winter meeting, Albuquerque, NM (United States), 16-20 Nov 1997; Other Information: PBD: 1997
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Multibeam tomotherapy: A new treatment unit devised for multileaf collimation, intensity-modulated radiation therapy
Phase I, study of a miniature X-ray source for interstitial radiotherapy of brain metastases