Automated improvement of radiation therapy treatment plans by optimization under reference dose constraints

A method is presented that automatically improves upon previous treatment plans by optimization under reference dose constraints. In such an optimization, a previous plan is taken as reference and a new optimization is performed towards some goal, such as minimization of the doses to healthy structures, under the constraint that no structure can become worse … Read more

Minimax optimization for handling range and setup uncertainties in proton therapy

Purpose: Intensity modulated proton therapy (IMPT) is sensitive to errors, mainly due to high stopping power dependency and steep beam dose gradients. Conventional margins are often insufficient to ensure robustness of treatment plans. In this article, a method is developed that takes the uncertainties into account during the plan optimization. Methods: Dose contributions for a … Read more