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Title: Dosimetric aspects of inverse-planned modulated-arc total-body irradiation

Journal Article · · Medical Physics
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1118/1.4739250· OSTI ID:22098964
; ; ;  [1]
  1. Department of Radiation Oncology, University of California San Francisco, California 94143-1708 (United States)

Purpose: To develop optimal beam parameters and to verify the dosimetric aspects of the recently developed modulated-arc total-body irradiation (MATBI) technique, which delivers an inverse-planned dose to the entire body using gantry rotation. Methods: The patient is positioned prone and supine underneath the gantry at about 2 m source-to-surface distance (SSD). Then, up to 28 beams irradiate the patient from different gantry angles. Based on full-body computed-tomography (CT) images of the patient, the weight of each beam is optimized, using inverse planning, to create a uniform body dose. This study investigates how to best simulate patients and the ideal beam setup parameters, such as field size, number of beams, and beam geometry, for treatment time and dose homogeneity. In addition, three anthropomorphic water phantoms were constructed and utilized to verify the accuracy of dose delivery, with both diode array and ion chamber measurements. Furthermore, to improve the accuracy of the new technique, a beam model is created specifically for the extended-SSD positioning for MATBI. Results: Low dose CT scans can be utilized for dose calculations without affecting the accuracy. The largest field size of 40 Multiplication-Sign 40 cm{sup 2} was found to deliver the most uniform dose in the least amount of time. Moreover, a higher number of beams improves dose homogeneity. The average dose discrepancy between ion chamber measurements and extended-SSD beam model calculations was 1.2%, with the largest discrepancy being 3.2%. This average dose discrepancy was 1.4% with the standard beam model for delivery at isocenter. Conclusions: The optimum beam setup parameters, regarding dose uniformity and treatment duration, are laid out for modulated-arc TBI. In addition, the presented dose measurements show that these treatments can be delivered accurately. These measurements also indicated that a new beam model did not significantly improve the accuracy of dose calculations. The optimum beam setup parameters along with the measurements performed to ensure accurate dose delivery serve as a useful guide for the clinical implementation of MATBI.

OSTI ID:
22098964
Journal Information:
Medical Physics, Vol. 39, Issue 8; Other Information: (c) 2012 American Association of Physicists in Medicine; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0094-2405
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English