IMRT planning parameter optimization for spine stereotactic radiosurgery

Spine stereotactic radiosurgery (SSRS) is a noninvasive treatment for metastatic spine lesions. MD Anderson Cancer Center reports a quality assurance (QA) failure rate approaching 15% for SSRS cases, which we hypothesized is due to difficulties in accurately calculating dose resulting from a large number of small-area segments. Clinical plans typically use 9 beams with an average of 10 segments per beam and minimum segment area of 2-3 cm2. The purpose of this study was to identify a set of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) planning parameters that attempts to optimize the balance among QA passing rate, plan quality, dose calculation accuracy, and delivery time for SSRS plans.

Source: Medical Dosimetry - December 1, 2018 Category: Radiology Authors: Gabriel B. Ayala, Kieu A. Doan, Hie Ji Ko, Peter K. Park, Edwin D. Santiago, Shirly J. Kuruvila, Amol J. Ghia, Tina M. Briere, Zhifei Wen Source Type: research