The dosimetric impact of stabilizing spinal implants in radiotherapy treatment planning with protons and photons: standard titanium alloy vs. radiolucent carbon-fiber-reinforced PEEK systems.

CONCLUSIONS: While VMAT plans showed no relevant difference in dosimetric quality between both screw types, IMPT plans demonstrated the benefit of CFP screws through a smaller dosimetric impact of CT-value uncertainties compared to Ti. Reducing metal components in implants will therefore improve dose calculation accuracy and lower the risk for tumor underdosage.
PMID: 32476247 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Source: Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics - May 30, 2020 Category: Physics Authors: Müller BS, Ryang YM, Oechsner M, Düsberg M, Meyer B, Combs SE, Wilkens JJ Tags: J Appl Clin Med Phys Source Type: research