Minerva User Manual Version 1.0

Abstract

MINERVA (Modality-Inclusive Environment for Radiotherapeutic Variable Analysis) is a Java-based patient-centric radiation treatment planning system (RTPS) for computational dosimetry and treatment planning in emerging areas of radiotherapy for cancer and other diseases. MINERVA was primarily developed at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and Montana State University (MSU). MINERVA allows the radiotherapist to make side-by-side comparison of plans for multiple treatment modalities with a common anatomical basis for the computational geometry, calculate doses for combinations of different radiotherapy modalities, and perform dose analysis and reporting functions. This provides the therapist with a consistent basis for selecting the modality or combination of modalities to use for treatment of the patient. MINERVA employs an integrated, lightweight plug-in architecture to accommodate multi-modal treatment planning using standard interface components. The MINERVA design facilitates integration of improved or emerging treatment planning technologies. MINERVA consists of the basic radiation treatment planning software modules managed by a consistent patient interface for developing multi-modal radiotherapy patient treatment plans. One of MINERVA's main functions is to provide a graphical environment for constructing and displaying uniform volume-element-based solid models derived from medical images. These solid models form the geometric basis of the target areas for the radiation transport model.