Dosimetric impact of real-time re-optimization of proton pencil-beam scanning for moving targets

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Bengtsson, Ivar, Forsgren, Anders, Fredriksson, Albin
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866929689628508160
author Bengtsson, Ivar
Forsgren, Anders
Fredriksson, Albin
author_facet Bengtsson, Ivar
Forsgren, Anders
Fredriksson, Albin
contents When treating moving tumors, the precise delivery of proton therapy by pencil beam scanning (PBS) is challenged by the interplay effect. Although several 4D-optimization methods have been proposed, what is the most beneficial motion management technique is still an open question. In this study, we wish to investigate the dosimetric impact of re-optimizing the PBS spot weights during the treatment delivery in response to, and in anticipation of, variations in the patient's breathing pattern. We simulate for PBS the implementation of a real-time adaptive framework based on principles from receding horizon control. We consider the patient motion as characterized by a one-dimensional amplitude signal and a 4DCT, to simulate breathing of variable frequency. The framework tracks the signal and predicts the future motion with uncertainty increasing with the length of the prediction horizon. After each delivered energy layer, the framework re-optimizes the spot weights of the next layer based on the delivered dose and the predicted motion. For three lung patients, we generate 500 variable breathing patterns to evaluate the dosimetric results of the framework and compare them to those of implementations of previously proposed non-adaptive methods. Compared to the best non-adaptive method, the adaptive framework improves the CTV D98 in the near-worst breathing scenario (5th percentile), from 96.4 to 98.9 % of the prescribed dose and considerably reduces the variation as measured by a mean decrease in the inter-quartile range by more than 80 %. The target coverage improvements are achieved without generally compromising target dose homogeneity or OAR dose. The study indicates that a motion-adaptive approach based on re-optimization of spot weights during delivery has the potential to substantially improve the dosimetric performance of PBS given fast and accurate models of patient motion.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2501_16840
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Dosimetric impact of real-time re-optimization of proton pencil-beam scanning for moving targets
Bengtsson, Ivar
Forsgren, Anders
Fredriksson, Albin
Medical Physics
Optimization and Control
When treating moving tumors, the precise delivery of proton therapy by pencil beam scanning (PBS) is challenged by the interplay effect. Although several 4D-optimization methods have been proposed, what is the most beneficial motion management technique is still an open question. In this study, we wish to investigate the dosimetric impact of re-optimizing the PBS spot weights during the treatment delivery in response to, and in anticipation of, variations in the patient's breathing pattern. We simulate for PBS the implementation of a real-time adaptive framework based on principles from receding horizon control. We consider the patient motion as characterized by a one-dimensional amplitude signal and a 4DCT, to simulate breathing of variable frequency. The framework tracks the signal and predicts the future motion with uncertainty increasing with the length of the prediction horizon. After each delivered energy layer, the framework re-optimizes the spot weights of the next layer based on the delivered dose and the predicted motion. For three lung patients, we generate 500 variable breathing patterns to evaluate the dosimetric results of the framework and compare them to those of implementations of previously proposed non-adaptive methods. Compared to the best non-adaptive method, the adaptive framework improves the CTV D98 in the near-worst breathing scenario (5th percentile), from 96.4 to 98.9 % of the prescribed dose and considerably reduces the variation as measured by a mean decrease in the inter-quartile range by more than 80 %. The target coverage improvements are achieved without generally compromising target dose homogeneity or OAR dose. The study indicates that a motion-adaptive approach based on re-optimization of spot weights during delivery has the potential to substantially improve the dosimetric performance of PBS given fast and accurate models of patient motion.
title Dosimetric impact of real-time re-optimization of proton pencil-beam scanning for moving targets
topic Medical Physics
Optimization and Control
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.16840