Highlights
- •First dosimetric results for 4He, 12C and 16O ions with anthropomorphic phantom.
- •MCTP and FRoG demonstrated superior agreement for clinical beams (1H, 12C).
- •Analytical calculation with point-of-interest has limits in handling heterogeneity.
- •MCTP and FRoG validated for clinical translation of novel ions e.g. 4He and 16O.
Abstract
With high-precision radiotherapy on the rise towards mainstream healthcare, comprehensive
validation procedures are essential, especially as more sophisticated technologies
emerge. In preparation for the upcoming translation of novel ions, case-/disease-specific
ion-beam selection and advanced multi-particle treatment modalities at the Heidelberg
Ion-beam Therapy Center (HIT), we quantify the accuracy limits in particle therapy
treatment planning under complex heterogeneous conditions for the four ions (1H, 4He, 12C, 16O) using a Monte Carlo Treatment Planning platform (MCTP), an independent GPU-accelerated
analytical dose engine developed in-house (FRoG) and the clinical treatment planning
system (Syngo RT Planning). Attaching an anthropomorphic half-head Alderson RANDO
phantom to entrance window of a dosimetric verification water tank, a cubic target
spread-out Bragg peak (SOBP) was optimized using the MCTP to best resolve effects
of anatomic heterogeneities on dose homogeneity. Subsequent forward calculations were
executed in FRoG and Syngo. Absolute and relative dosimetry was performed in the experimental
beam room using 1D and 2D array ionization chamber detectors. Mean absolute percent
deviation in dose (|%Δ|) between predictions and PinPoint ionization chamber measurements
were within ∼2% for all investigated ions for both MCTP and FRoG. For protons and
carbon ions, |%Δ| values were ∼4% for Syngo. For the four ions, 3D-γ analysis (3%/3mm
criteria) of FLUKA and FRoG presented mean passing rates of 97.0(±2.4)% and 93.6(±4.2)%.
FRoG demonstrated satisfactory agreement with gold standard Monte Carlo simulation
and measurement, superior to the commercial system. Our pre-clinical trial landmarks
the first measurements taken in anthropomorphic settings for helium, carbon and oxygen
ion-beam therapy.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: July 11, 2019
Accepted:
July 1,
2019
Received in revised form:
June 30,
2019
Received:
March 12,
2019
Identification
Copyright
© 2019 Associazione Italiana di Fisica Medica. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
