SERA -- An advanced treatment planning system for neutron therapy and BNCT
- Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
- Montana State Univ., Bozeman, MT (United States)
Detailed treatment planning calculations on a patient-specific basis are required for boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT). Two integrated treatment planning systems developed specifically for BNCT have been in clinical use in the United States over the past few years. The MacNCTPLAN BNCT treatment planning system is used in the clinical BNCT trials that are underway at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A second system, BNCT{_}rtpe (BNCT radiation therapy planning environment), developed independently by the Idaho national Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) in collaboration with Montana State University (MSU), is used for treatment planning in the current series of BNCT clinical trials for glioblastoma at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL). This latter system is also licensed for use at several other BNCT research facilities worldwide. Although the currently available BNCT planning systems have served their purpose well, they suffer from somewhat long computation times (2 to 3 CPU-hours or more per field) relative to standard photon therapy planning software. This is largely due to the need for explicit three-dimensional solutions to the relevant transport equations. The simplifying approximations that work well for photon transport computations are not generally applicable to neutron transport computations. Greater computational speeds for BNCT treatment planning must therefore generally be achieved through the application of improved numerical techniques rather than by simplification of the governing equations. Recent efforts at INEEL and MSU have been directed toward this goal. This has resulted in a new paradigm for this type of calculation and the subsequent creation of the new simulation environment for radiotherapy applications (SERA) treatment planning system for BNCT. SERA is currently in initial clinical testing in connection with the trials at BNL, and it is expected to replace the present BNCT{_}rtpe system upon general release during 1999.
- OSTI ID:
- 678110
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-990605-; ISSN 0003-018X; TRN: 99:009095
- Journal Information:
- Transactions of the American Nuclear Society, Vol. 80; Conference: 1999 annual meeting of the American Nuclear Society (ANS), Boston, MA (United States), 6-10 Jun 1999; Other Information: PBD: 1999
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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