Abstract
Patient specific quality assurance can be improved using an independent dose calculation system. In addition, the implementation of such a system may support light ion beam therapy facilities in reducing the needs for beam time, by substituting some of the experimental patient-specific quality assurance procedures by independent dose calculation. The GATE-RTion-based IDEAL system for light ion beam therapy was developed for this purpose. It was built in a DICOM-in, DICOM-out fashion, for easy integration into a state-of-the-art technology-based workflow for scanned ion beam therapy. This article describes the IDEAL system, followed by its clinical implementation at MedAustron for proton and carbon ion beams. Medical physics acceptance and commissioning steps are presented together with key results: for 3D proton and carbon ion reference boxes, 97% of the points agreed within 5% from the measurements. Experimental validation of stopping powers using real pig samples were between 1.8% and 3.8% for soft tissues. Finally, five clinical cases are described, i.e. two proton and three carbon ion treatments. Dosimetric benchmarking against TPS calculations are presented and discussed in details. As expected, the IDEAL software evidenced limitations arising from the pencil beam algorithm available in the TPS for carbon ions, especially in the presence of air cavities. The IDEAL system was found to satisfy the clinical requirements for independent dose calculation of scanned ion beam delivery systems and is being clinically implemented at MedAustron. The open-source code as well as the documentation was released on the OpenGATE collaboration website, thus allowing for long term maintenance and future upgrades based on a more widespread utilization.
Highlights
Light Ion Beam Therapy (LIBT) is an advanced form of radiation therapy
This paper presents the GATE-RTion-based Independent DosE cAlculation system for LIBT (IDEAL)
IDEAL was set-up on a cluster made of 1 submit node and 2 computing nodes of 24 physical cores each (48 cores in total)
Summary
While proton therapy is a more widespread technology, dual particle facilities equipped with both protons and carbon ions, such as MedAustron, are only six worldwide. Other types of ions may be of interest, this article focuses on the particles and technology currently available at MedAustron, which are scanned proton and carbon ion beams [1]. IDEAL Independent Dose Calculation system a small pencil beam laterally in the Planning Target Volume (PTV), while sparing the surrounding Organs At Risks (OARs) as much as possible. Treatment planning is the key process to prepare the treatment. It necessitates a 3D CT scan of the patient anatomy acquired in the treatment position. PTVs, OARs and any other necessary Region Of Interest (ROI) are delineated in the CT images and the treatment plan is prepared. This article addresses the specific issue of the Patientspecific Quality Assurance (PSQA) process, after the treatment planning is completed
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