Targeted multi-criteria optimisation in IMRT planning supplemented by knowledge based model creation

Publication date: Available online 7 May 2019Source: Operations Research for Health CareAuthor(s): Katrin Teichert, Garry Currie, Karl-Heinz Küfer, Eliane Miguel-Chumacero, Philipp Süss, Michał Walczak, Suzanne CurrieAbstractIntensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) planning is an inherently multi-criteria task. A multi-criteria workflow (MCW) typically passes the following steps: create an optimisation model with multiple criteria, approximate the Pareto frontier, and visualize the generated plans to the decision-maker (DM) for inspection. This interactive plan selection and manipulation allow to create better treatment plans as judged by physicians. However, once an optimisation model is specified, optimisation objectives cannot be modified any more. Thus this fixed model implies that a planner has to guess an appropriate model to begin with. Only after Pareto frontier approximation is calculated, the planner can asses the goodness of the model by exploring the trade-offs. The shortcoming of a MCW becomes apparent when the proposed model fails to generate expected trade-offs and the planner is thus forced to refine the model and repeat the calculations. To circumvent this drawback in the MCW, we propose a local multi-criteria workflow (L-MCW) designed and implemented in a collaboration between Fraunhofer ITWM and Varian Medical Systems. L-MCW enables local exploration around an initial, promising plan. The initial plan is automatically inferred by a knowledge-based al...
Source: Operations Research for Health Care - Category: Hospital Management Source Type: research